The Wyoming Republican Party voted on Saturday to censor Congresswoman Liz Cheney about his vote for the impeachment of former President Trump. Cheney, the third Republican in the House, said on Saturday that her vote for impeachment was “compelled by the oath I took to the Constitution”.
The Wyoming Republican Party passed a censorship resolution by a 56-8 vote. The censorship resolution says the state party will not raise money for her in the future and also asks her to return any donations made to her party’s 2020 campaign. state and any parts of the county that request it.
“I am honored to represent the people of Wyoming in Congress and will always fight for the issues that matter most to our state,” said Cheney in a statement on Saturday. “The first of them is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees”.
Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who broke with the party and voted on January 13 to impeach Trump on charges of inciting insurrection on the United States Capitol. Mr. Trump’s trial will start in the Senate on Tuesday.
The censorship document says that Cheney voted for impeachment “despite the lack of a formal hearing, presentation of evidence, oath of witnesses or interrogation of accusers”.
Trump won almost 70% of Wyoming voters in November, and Cheney is the state’s only congressman. The Republican Party accused her of not having contact with state voters. The resolution states that Republicans in the state have since left the party or changed their electoral record.
Several party members have spoken out against the move to censor Cheney. During Saturday’s meeting, Teton County President Alex Muromcew said the state party should resist “this left-wing tendency to ‘cancel culture’, trying to censor and get rid of anyone we disagree with.” Natrona County Republican Party President Joseph McGinley criticized the state party’s recent decisions to censor other state and local lawmakers, including himself.
With the US House still in session, Cheney did not attend the meeting. There was an empty chair with her name to draw attention to her absence, which McGinley said was made in “bad taste”.
“This is our only representative in the US House. And censoring someone for how they voted does not help at all. If we are not satisfied with the voting records, then this is resolved in the primaries. Trying to undermine someone’s ability to represent the Wyoming people are counterproductive, “McGinley told CBS News.
Cheney also faced a negative reaction from national Republicans. Earlier this week, Cheney survived a vote by House Republicans to remove her from her leadership position, with 61 Republicans voting to remove Cheney from her post and 145 voting for her to stay. The vote was held by secret ballot.
On January 28, Florida congressman Matt Gaetz held a rally in Wyoming, criticizing Cheney for her impeachment vote and calling her “a Beltway bureaucrat who became a fake cowgirl”.
Adam Brewster contributed reporting.