Top US Republicans yesterday sought to portray their expected ouster of Representative Liz Cheney as an act of unity, despite warnings that the move could deepen divisions over former President Donald Trump and sink party hopes in the 2022 elections.

In the strongest sign yet that Ms Cheney faces defeat in a party vote expected on Wednesday, the top Republican in the House of Representatives said he would back congresswoman Elise Stefanik to replace the Wyoming Republican as chair of the 212-member House Republican Conference.

Republicans hope to reclaim majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives in next year’s congressional elections.

Most lawmakers have sought to placate Mr Trump and the Republican voters who enthusiastically support him, despite the loss of both chambers and the White House during his presidency.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Representative Jim Banks, who heads the Republican Study Committee, a leading conservative caucus, said Ms Cheney is under fire as a party leader because of her repeated criticism of Mr Trump’s falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen has distracted from party messaging against Democratic President Joe Biden’s agenda.

 “We need to be united and that starts with leadership,”  Mr McCarthy told Fox News.

“We want to be united moving forward, and I think that’s what will take place.”

Asked if he supports Ms Stefanik for Ms Cheney’s position, Mr McCarthy replied: “Yes, I do.”

Ms Stefanik, a 36-year-old from New York state whose status in the party rose after she aggressively defended Mr Trump during congressional hearings ahead of his 2019 impeachment, is also supported by No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise and by Mr Trump himself.

Ms Cheney was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection after hundreds of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in a riot that left five people dead including a police officer.

The daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney has continued to criticise Mr Trump for repeating falsehoods about his election loss to Joe Biden and has called on Republicans to become the “party of truth” by rejecting his claims.

“ Any leader who is not focused on pushing back against the radical and dangerous Biden agenda needs to be replaced ,” Mr Banks, whose caucus represents about 70pc of the House Republican conference, said in an interview on the Fox News channel yesterday.