Kevin McCarthy officially schedules Wednesday vote to oust Liz Cheney from GOP leadership as he paves the way for Elise Stefanik to take over her role
Kevin McCarthy on Monday sent a letter to Republican colleagues officially scheduling the GOP Conference vote to oust chairman Liz Cheney from party leadership for Wednesday.
'It had been my hope that our driving focus would be taking back the House in 2022 and implementing our Commitment to America. Despite the mainstream media working overtime against us, I believe we still have a great chance to do so,' McCarthy said in the letter to House GOP colleagues, according to The Hill. 'Unfortunately, each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future,'
'This is no time to take our eye off the ball,' the Republican House minority leader continued in the letter. 'If we are to succeed in stopping the radical Democrat agenda from destroying our country, these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team.'
'Having heard from so many of you in recent days, it's clear that we need to make a change. As such, you should anticipate a vote on recalling the Conference Chair this Wednesday.'
He added: 'We are a big tent party. We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.
'All members are elected to represent their constituents as they see fit, but our leadership team cannot afford to be distracted from the important work we were elected to do and the shared goals we home to achieve. The stakes are too high to come up short.'
Republicans in the lower chamber are preparing to vote out Wyoming Rep. Cheney from her No. 3 post after she doubled down on her criticism of former President Donald Trump in the months following the January 6 Capitol attack.
Cheney was one of the 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump after the riot. She also publicly increased her rhetoric against him in a fiery op/ed last week and a tweet where she responded to a statement from the former president about her.
New York Representative Elise Stefanik appears to be the likely replacement for Cheney after several party leaders, including McCarthy and Trump, endorsed her for the position.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sent a memo to Republican colleagues Monday officially scheduling a vote to oust Liz Cheney on Wednesday
'The House GOP has a massive opportunity to upgrade this week from warmonger Liz Cheney to gifted communicator Elise Stefanik,' Trump wrote in a Monday statement, which was a repeat of his endorsement last week.
'Elise has intelligence, an endorsement from American Patriot Brandon Judd and the National Border Patrol Council, she has an A+ from the NRA, and she loves our Veterans,' the former president continued. 'We need someone in Leadership who has experience flipping districts from Blue to Red as we approach the important 2022 midterms, and that's Elise! She knows how to win, which is what we need!'
The House is currently out of session, but will return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday after a three week break. On Wednesday the House GOP will convene to decide the future of the party in the lower chamber.
'To defeat Nancy Pelosi and the socialist agenda, we need to be united. And that starts with leadership,' McCarthy told 'Fox News Sunday' in formally and publicly breaking with Cheney and backing Stefanik.
'That's why we will have a vote next week,' he continued. 'And we want to be united in looking, moving forward. And I think that's what will take place.'
'As conference chair, you have one of the most critical jobs as the messenger of going forward. Are we talking about what the Democrats are doing on the border? Are we talking about all the missed jobs [in the] report that we just had? Are we building an economy?'
The House Republican Conference is preparing for a vote Wednesday to oust Representative Liz Cheney as chairwoman
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (left) reaffirmed he will support New York Rep. Elise Stefanik (right) to replace Cheney – a big change from the February vote to remove Cheney that failed with his support for the Wyoming lawmaker
Trump sent a statement as a follow up from last week's endorsement of Stefanik where he defended why she should replace Cheney in House GOP leadership
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has also endorsed Stefanik for the post.
While Stefanik has a less conservative voting record than Cheney, she does win in one area – she is a defender of former President Trump. She even was one of the lawmakers who objected to the joint session vote certifying the election for Joe Biden earlier this year.
Cheney survived a February vote attempting to oust her, but since then has not backed down on attacking Trump for continuing to push claims the 2020 election was 'rigged.'
She has argued that the Republican Party needs to move on from Trump, which has not resonated with the majority of lawmakers.
Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Jim Banks said Sunday that Cheney has 'failed' the party by becoming a divisive figure rather than a uniting one.
'One of my jobs is to hold my Republican leadership accountable for being focused on the Republican ideals that we stand for and the single mission that we have to win back the majority,' the Indiana Representative told ' Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace.
'She's failed in her mission as the chief spokesperson of our party,' he continued.
'We shouldn't be talking about Liz Cheney, we should be talking about pushing back against the radical Biden agenda, and this is all a distraction from our ability to do that.'
Cheney sealed her fate after doubling down on her criticism of Trump in the months after becoming the highest-ranking Republican to vote for his second impeachment.
Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Jim Banks said Sunday that GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney has 'failed' the party in her leadership role
Of the 212 Republican in the House of Representatives, 153 of them are members of the GOP Study Committee – making it the largest conservative caucus in Congress.
'Republicans are almost completely unified,' Chairman Banks said of the effort 'to oppose the radical Biden agenda.'
'We are almost entirely unified on this issue, except for Liz Cheney,' he clarified
'Any leader who is not focused on that,' Banks said, 'at this point needs to be replaced.'
On Wednesday, the GOP caucus will meet to decide the fate of Cheney in her elected role after top leadership, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have publicly turned against her.
During Banks' interview with Fox on Sunday morning, he told Wallace that he stands by his decision to vote to challenge the results. While reasserting that President Joe Biden is the legitimate president, Banks also continued to question how the election was conducted.
'I stand by my vote to object on January 6 and stand by the Texas lawsuit,' he said. 'I have serious concerns about how the election in November was carried out.'
'That is where most Republicans in the GOP conference are unified around that single mission and goal and anything that distracts from it will hold us back from doing that,' he said, bringing it back to Cheney's future in the party.
Earlier this year, Cheney survived a secret ballot leadership vote 145-61 with the help of McCarthy.
McCarthy has questioned ever since then her ability to carry on as Conference chairwoman, claiming her message seems so departed from the rest of the party.
Ahead of an interview with Fox & Friends last week, McCarthy was caught on hot mic telling co-host Steve Doocey he's lost confidence in Cheney.
'I think she's got real problems,' he said. 'I've had it with.
'You know, I've lost confidence,' McCarthy continued in the hot mic moment. 'Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.'
Then during his interview, McCarthy told Fox: 'I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair - to carry out the message.'
'We all need to be working as one if we're able to win the majority,' he added. 'Remember, majorities are not given; they are earned. And that's about the message about going forward.'
A key McCarthy ally revealed in comments to The Hill last week: 'There is no way that Liz will be conference chair by month's end. 'When there is a vote, it won't be a long conference; it will be fast. Everyone knows the outcome.'
Reports indicate thus far that Cheney isn't trying too hard or attempting to whip up support for her to hold onto her leadership role.
Top leadership is paving the way for Stefanik to replace Cheney in House GOP leadership, despite the New York Republican having a less conservative voting record than Cheney
Support for Stefanik also comes as Donald Trump endorsed her to take Cheney's post
The daughter of Former Vice President Dick Cheney, however, cast the battle as one far bigger than her own political career in an op/ed in the Washington Post on Wednesday.
'The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution,' she wrote.
'In the immediate wake of the violence of Jan. 6, almost all of us knew the gravity and the cause of what had just happened — we had witnessed it firsthand,' she said bringing up the Capitol riot that preceded her vote to impeach Trump.
'The question before us now is whether we will join Trump's crusade to delegitimize and undo the legal outcome of the 2020 election, with all the consequences that might have. I have worked overseas in nations where changes in leadership come only with violence, where democracy takes hold only until the next violent upheaval. America is exceptional because our constitutional system guards against that. At the heart of our republic is a commitment to the peaceful transfer of power among political rivals in accordance with law. President Ronald Reagan as our American 'miracle.'
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, No. 2 in House leadership, also expressed his public support for Stefanik in breaking with the No. 3 leader
Scalise publicly voiced his support for ousting Cheney – while he and other leadership make clear their choice to replace her is New York Representative Elise Stefanik.
'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,' Scalise's spokesperson Lauren Fine said.
Stefanik, not a favorite of some more far-right factions of the party, was a vocal and public defender of Trump during his impeachment hearings.
Wyoming Republicans are also looking to oust Cheney from Congress completely, as the party gears up for 2022 and Trump prepares to issue an endorsement for a challenger for her at-large seat.
Several right-leaning polls show a majority of Wyomingites have turned on Cheney, their at-large congresswoman in the U.S. House since 2017, while support for former President Donald Trump has only grown since he left office.
There are already four Republicans registered to run against Cheney for her House seat in 2022 – State Senator Anthony Bouchard, State Representative Chuck Gray, former Pavillion, Wyoming Mayor Marissa Selvig and Bryan Keller.
Trump, along with his allies and circle, have taken a strong interest in the race, as well.
The GOP in Wyoming is also increasingly looking to oust Cheney from Congress altogether. There are already four Republicans running for Cheney's Wyoming House seat in 2022, including State Senator Anthony Bouchard (left) and State Representative Chuck Gray (right)
Marissa Selvig is also running, she previously served as mayor in Pavillion, Wyoming
A report last week revealed the Trump team has two other preferred candidates the former president is trying to recruit to join the race – attorney Darin Smith, who ran for the seat in 2016 and came in fourth, and Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan.
'I think anybody who's a decent Republican is going to get behind whoever Donald Trump eventually endorses,' Smith told Politico.
'He's gonna look under every rock and look over the lay of the land, and he's going to determine who that person that he's going to get behind is.'
It's unlikely both Smith and Buchanan would enter the race, and people close to Buchanan say he is leaning against running, instead opting to keep his seat as secretary of state.
An endorsement from Trump in the race could help clarify the already crowded field, which if it gets too large could result in Cheney winning with a plurality. In 2016 she won with 40 per cent of the vote against eight other candidates.
The Club for Growth found in a poll conducted in Wyoming in late April that 52 per cent of voters there would not back Cheney in another reelection campaign, while only 14 per cent said they would support her under any circumstance.
Fundraising shows a bit of a different story.
In the first quarter of 2021, Cheney raised $1.54 million, which is more than she reported in any other quarter in her past three elections.
Bouchard seems the favorite in the race so far to take on Cheney. He has raised $330,000 since entering and after Cheney's vote to impeach Trump in January.
Trump is looking to recruit attorney Darin Smith (right), who ran for the seat in 2016 and came in fourth, or Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan (left) to join the race for Cheney's seat
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