First thing Wednesday morning, Rep. Liz Cheney was ousted from her role as Conference Chair. It happened behind closed doors, in just minutes. It was a voice vote and was not recorded, so we don’t know how the vote broke down or who voted yes or no. Rep. Adam Kinzinger who was in the room spoke with reporters after the vote calling it “a sad day.”
“There was no speeches, really. It was just Kevin (McCarthy) standing up and then the vote was taken. It was definitely not what I expected.”
He said that McCarthy, the Minority Leader, said “It’s time to move on from her. He said we have to be unified and continue with this whole unity theme. i’m all for unity. I’m all for unity and truth. Truth cannot co-exist with lies. Truth cannot co-exist with false falsehoods. You cannot unify with that.”
Cheney spoke after the vote as well. Here is part of her remarks, a rebuke on Donald Trump:
“I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office. We have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language. We have seen his lack of commitment and dedication to the constitution. And I think it’s very important that we make sure whomever we elect is somebody who will be faithful to the constitution.”
Liz Cheney immediately after she was ousted from House leadership: "I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office." pic.twitter.com/mxrPHqtRup
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 12, 2021
We are also learning what Cheney told her colleagues right before the vote:
I have tremendous affection and admiration for many of you in this room. I know we all came to Washington to do important work for the nation. History has chosen every single one of us. And history has put us here together at this moment of challenge for our country.
To do that, we must be true to our principles and to the constitution. We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy. Down that path lies our destruction, and potentially the destruction of our country.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 12, 2021
I’ll bet neoconservatives like Liz Cheney never imagined that the country they’d most urgently need to promote the spread of democracy to was the United States. Yet here we are. https://t.co/5PdeletBlF
— Nope. (@JoyAnnReid) May 12, 2021