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House conservatives challenge Rep. Liz Cheney, No. 3 post in Republican leadership, question her loyalty to Trump

Paul Kane & Rachael Bade

By Paul Kane & Rachael Bade The Washington Post

Published July 22, 2020

House conservatives challenge Rep. Liz Cheney, No. 3 post in Republican leadership, question her loyalty to Trump
WASHINGTON - Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., came under fire Tuesday from the far-right flank of the House Republican caucus, who accused her of disloyalty to President Donald Trump and a GOP incumbent, prompting calls for a challenge to her leadership position.

Cheney, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, stood her ground and fired back at the conservative agitators, countering that they lacked loyalty to Trump and to fellow Republicans. The unusually sharp clash occurred in the first in-person meeting of the House Republican Conference since the coronavirus pandemic shut down such large gatherings more than four months ago.

"Liz Cheney has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda. House Republicans deserve better as our Conference Chair. Liz Cheney should step down or be removed," Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., wrote on Twitter late Tuesday morning.

Cheney, speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon, said she was "honored to serve as House Republican Conference chair" and the people of Wyoming. She said she takes her "position in leadership very seriously" while defending "a healthy exchange of views."


Cheney holds the No. 3 post in GOP leadership, and, after having turned down a chance to run for an open Senate seat, she had been viewed as someone who wanted to rise into one of the top two posts. She's been discussed as possibly the first female Republican speaker, a position that her father, Richard B. Cheney, had once aspired to when he was in the House, until he became secretary of Defense in 1989.

In recent weeks Liz Cheney has been openly critical of several Trump foreign policy decisions, taking a traditional military hawk position that her father embodied as George W. Bush's vice president. She also has defended Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious-disease expert, after some in Trump's inner circle launched broadsides against his prescriptions for how to handle the epidemic.

On other issues, however, Cheney has consistently backed Trump's policies while being highly critical of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

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The president's son, Don Trump Jr., joined Gaetz in calling for her ouster, comparing her to Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, for his vote to convict Trump during the impeachment trial.

Cheney pointed out that Trump Jr. is not a member of Congress.

In Tuesday's closed-door session, Gaetz had helped start the rebellion when he used the open-microphone portion of the GOP meeting to accuse Cheney of not supporting Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in his primary. Massie had angered Republicans, including Trump, and Democrats by using a parliamentary maneuver to force a majority of the House to convene in late March to approve the more than $2 trillion Cares Act.

House leaders wanted to pass the legislation by voice vote with just a few lawmakers on hand because it was deemed unsafe to have several hundred lawmakers travel back to the District of Columbia and gather in person to vote.

Cheney later recanted her endorsement of Massie's opponent once his racist and anti-Semitic writings were discovered.

"Your problem is with the president, not me," Cheney shot back to Massie, according to a Republican who participated in the meeting but requested anonymity to talk about the sensitive meeting.

Several other Republicans joined in the criticism, most notably Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, the group of several dozen of the most conservative lawmakers who promote themselves as Trump's loyal foot soldiers in Congress.

Jordan, who has ambitions to join leadership, credited Cheney with a strong defense during Trump's impeachment but listed a series of actions that he considered not being a "team player."

"We've got to be supportive of the president," Jordan said, according to several Republicans in the room.

Cheney replied with a cutting remark that, to those in the room, was a jab at how he had spent eight years undermining John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Paul Ryan, R-Wis., when they were House speakers and the GOP held the majority.

"Jim, I look forward to hearing your comments about being a team player when we're back in the majority," she said, according to a GOP participant in the meeting.

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