TAKE IT ON THE CHEN
Liz Cheney survives vote against her and will remain in party leadership position despite voting to impeach Trump
REP Liz Cheney will remain the No. 3 Republican as GOP members backed her despite her controversial vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump.
Cheney kept her leadership role after a 145-61 secret-ballot vote among House Republicans on Wednesday that overshadowed a push by hard-right conservatives to oust her.
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The Wyoming representative reportedly told her colleagues during the closed-door session that she would not apologize for voting to impeach .
During a press conference after the vote, Cheney said, “We’re not going to be divided and we’re not going to be in a situation where people can pick off any member of leadership,” according to .
“It was a very resounding acknowledgment that we need to go forward together,” she said.
Hard-right Freedom Caucus members accused Cheney of “aiding the enemy” by issuing a statement on why she backed the impeachment effort against Trump on the day before the vote, The Times reported.
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Some of Cheney’s colleagues were especially angry that she referred to herself as the House Republican Conference chairwoman in her statement abandoning Trump.
Rep Jim Jordan, one of Trump’s biggest allies, argued that Cheney could not represent the , since the majority of members opposed impeaching Trump.
Cheney was one of only 10 House Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching the 45th president.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reinforced his support for Cheney during a break in the private session.
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“People can have differences of opinion. That's what you can have a discussion about. Liz has a right to vote her conscience,” McCarthy said, referring to her impeachment vote.
After the meeting, McCarthy told reporters that Cheney’s position on impeachment, though in the minority, was not reason enough to further fracture the party.
“Two years from now, we're going to win the majority. That’s because this conference is more united,” he said.
“We’ve got the right leadership team behind it.”
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Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who previously chaired the House Republican Conference, stood by Cheney and said it was not the time to reconfigure the party’s leadership.
A vocal critic of Trump, Rep Adam Kinzinger, also defended Cheney and accused McCarthy of putting more effort into keeping conspiracy theorist on her committees.
Hours before the vote on Cheney, McCarthy slammed Democrats for scheduling a House vote on Thursday to remove Greene from her committees, after she endorsed violence against Democratic lawmakers.
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