There’s mounting pressure from the right to remove Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney from her post as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership. But there’s one problem: Cheney is the only Republican woman serving in a House leadership role, and removing her would be poor optics as the Republican Party works to bring more women into the fold. They may have found a solution, however: Just replace her with another woman!
On Wednesday, the New York Post obtained a statement from the office of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise announcing he no longer supported Cheney as Conference Chair, but would love it if she was replaced with Elise Stefanik, New York Congresswoman who became something of a conservative heroine during President Trump’s first impeachment trial.
The statement read, “House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair.”
Stefanik and her ride-or-die loyalty to Trump acts as a stark contrast to Cheney, who openly criticized Trump and supported his second impeachment, earning her scorn from colleagues—like Rep. Matt Gaetz—and talks of being primaried next year. The writing is on the wall: On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was heard on a hot mic telling Fox and Friends host Steve Doocy that he’s “had it with her,” “lost confidence,” and believes that a motion to replace her is imminent.
Don’t let this infighting fool you: Cheney may not like Trump, but she’s a conservative hawk who wouldn’t even budge on her anti-same-sex marriage stance for her gay sister’s sake. Plus, her last name is Cheney. So, frankly, let them fight.
DISCUSSION
That Cheney is not whipping a vote means she is planning on sitting this out. She said her piece, she will be the voice of the opposition if the time comes around on McCarthy and the Trumpers. She’ll focus on her primary challenge to survive, see what the election looks like in 2022 and whether Trump is a winning ticket. Or she’ll run for Senate. It was nice having the infighting at least - this just means that the GOP are going to be doubling down on Trumpian language for 2022/2024. If the House wasn’t realigning I’d be less worried. Lets hope our ground game is ready to rock.