House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office boosted the ongoing quarrel between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., as the ongoing divide could put a dent in Republican efforts to take back the House next fall.
“Word is out that House GOP Leaders are looking to push Rep. Liz Cheney from her post as House Republican Conference Chair — their most senior woman in GOP leadership — for a litany of very Republican reasons: she won’t lie, she isn’t humble enough, she’s like a girlfriend rooting for the wrong team, and more,” Pelosi’s office said in a blog posted to her website.
That comment comes as the divide between McCarthy and Cheney, the third-highest ranking House Republican, appears to be reaching a boiling point following the Capitol riot.
Cheney has refused to back down from her criticisms of former President Donald Trump, despite growing pressure from other Republicans. She was the highest-ranking Republican to vote to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot, and has been at odds with other members of House GOP leadership over embracing Trump and entertaining his election claims since then. She has repeatedly and forcefully rejected Trump’s stolen election lie.
Cheney’s position has her at odds with McCarthy, who has tried to keep his conference aligned with the former president. After initially assigning Trump blame for the riot — though he voted hours after the attack to block the counting of some electoral votes for Biden — McCarthy has worked to get back into the former president’s good graces, including visiting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Speaking with “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday, McCarthy said “there’s no concern about” Cheney’s impeachment vote from fellow House Republicans.
“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,” McCarthy said, adding, “I haven’t heard members concerned about her vote on impeachment, it’s more concerned about the job ability to do and what’s our best step forward that we can all work together instead of attacking one another.”
A Cheney spokesperson, Jeremy Adler, said in a statement to NBC News following McCarthy’s remarks: “This is about whether the Republican Party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan 6.”
“Liz will not do that,” Adler said. “That is the issue.”
Democrats currently own a slim 218-212 House majority over the GOP. With historical trends pointing against the party in power during a new president’s first midterms, Republicans are confident they can retake the majority without much of a boost.
The latest episode kicked off Monday after Cheney tweeted that anyone claiming the 2020 presidential election was stolen is “poisoning our democratic system,” a direct response to a Trump statement from earlier in the day.
Cheney also warned Monday the GOP should not “whitewash” the riot, telling a crowd of donors and scholars during an off-the-record interview with former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., at the annual American Enterprise Institute retreat: “We can’t embrace the notion the election is stolen.”
“It’s a poison in the bloodstream of our democracy,” Cheney said in remarks first reported by CNN. An aide familiar with the comments confirmed the accuracy of to NBC News. “We can’t whitewash what happened on January 6 or perpetuate Trump’s big lie. It is a threat to democracy. What he did on Jan. 6 is a line that cannot be crossed.”
While Cheney has emerged as Trump’s most powerful House Republican critic, an attempt in February by Trump allies to strip her of her leadership post failed overwhelmingly, 145 to 61.
The lopsided vote came by secret ballot, indicating broad private support for Cheney inside the conference, even though many have been wary of speaking out publicly for fear of igniting Trump’s wrath.
Kasie Hunt and Leigh Ann Caldwell contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
