House Republicans vote to keep Liz Cheney in leadership after she defends her impeachment vote
(CNN)House Republicans voted Wednesday night that Rep. Liz Cheney should keep her post in House GOP leadership after she defended her support for impeachment as a vote of conscience during a contentious closed-door GOP conference meeting.
The
secret ballot vote took place after some Republicans argued that Cheney
should be removed from leadership following her support for impeaching
then-President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol.
In the end, however, Cheney prevailed by a wide margin. The vote was
145 to keep her in her position as House Republican Conference chair,
and 61 to remove her, plus one member who voted present, according to
several people in the room.
The
outcome leaves the House GOP leadership structure intact and averts a
major upheaval within the Republican conference, after weeks of
criticism and attacks aimed at Cheney ,including from some of her
Republican colleagues and Trump.
Earlier
in the evening, Cheney defended her vote to impeach. "I won't apologize
for the vote," she told the House Republican conference, a source with
knowledge of the process told CNN.
Cheney
told CNN on Wednesday evening that she does not regret her impeachment
vote. "Absolutely not," she said when asked. The Wyoming Republican was one of a handful of House Republicans to cross party lines and vote to impeach Trump for inciting the riot at the US Capitol that left five people dead.
Cheney
delivered an eight-minute speech near the beginning of the meeting, two
people in the room said, offering what was described as a calm yet firm
defense of the Constitution.
She
also told members that she wanted a vote to be called on her leadership
status, which was interpreted by some in the room as an act of
confidence in her standing with a broader cross-section of Republicans,
the majority of which did not air their grievances toward her.
Cheney
also fielded several contentious questions and comments from Trump
loyalists, a person in the room said, including Rep. Scott Perry of
Pennsylvania, who bluntly said she "aided and comforted the enemy." Rep.
Darrell Issa of California asked Cheney if they kept her in leadership,
whether she would do it again. Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana engaged
in a fiery exchange with her, a person in the room said, speaking loudly
and angrily at Cheney.
But
the anger was not all aimed at Cheney. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois,
who had also voted in favor of impeachment, voiced criticism of House
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, during the
meeting.
Cheney
issued a scathing statement ahead of the House impeachment vote
condemning Trump's conduct, saying that he "summoned this mob, assembled
the mob, and lit the flame of this attack," and "there has never been a
greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and
his oath to the Constitution."
Some prominent Republicans have defended Cheney, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,
but her vote has triggered a divisive intra-party battle and ahead of
the meeting, there are other Republicans who want Cheney to express
remorse for her comments over her impeachment vote.
House Republicans are at a major crossroads as tensions simmer over Cheney and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and the conference faces pressure to chart a path forward in the aftermath of the Trump presidency.
Shortly
before the meeting began, McCarthy released a statement, in which he
condemned Greene's comments, but did not include any new repercussions
for Greene and spent more time criticizing Democrats than the Georgia
congresswoman's past comments that have created the backlash.
Ahead
of the meeting, Cheney had been moving behind the scenes to shore up
support -- and her defenders had been confident she would have the
backing to fend off any challenge to her leadership post.
Rep.
Jim Banks, who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee, told
CNN that Cheney had spoken to virtually all House Republicans ahead of
the meeting.
"Well
she's making a lot of efforts to talk to, I mean she's reached out to
almost every member of the Republican conference," Banks said.
"The
House should do what the House chooses to do," freshman Sen. Cynthia
Lummis told reporters, refusing to offer any support to fellow Wyoming
Republican Cheney.
John Barrasso, the other Wyoming GOP senator, backs Cheney.
Rep.
Tom Reed of New York said ahead of the meeting he had spoken with
Cheney and noted that he's willing to defend her during the conference
meeting.
"So
I told her that I will be a voice to say, 'Hey, guys, you know we don't
purge our fellow members. That is not something we do. We are, as
Republicans, we are a family, we air our differences, we settle it in
the conference chamber just like I do with my loving older brothers and
sisters, and we come out of it united,'" he said.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments Wednesday.
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