Rep. Liz Cheney was voted out of her leadership position in only 16 minutes.
Sources told CNN that before the House Republican Conference met Wednesday morning to remove the Wyoming congresswoman from her position as the third-ranking Republican member in Congress, they expected it to be quick.
However, because it happened so quickly, some members arrived just in time for the vote. It contrasted with the nearly four-hour meeting and vote on February 4 that kept Cheney in command at the time, following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the January 6 insurgency at the Capitol.
The meeting began with Cheney addressing her colleagues, in which she again chastised Trump for his “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen, as well as other Republicans who aided his efforts to overturn his loss, vowing to lead “the fight to restore our party and our nation to conservative principles.”
“We cannot let the former President drag us backwards and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy,” Cheney said in her remarks before being ousted. “Down that path lies our destruction, and potentially the destruction of our country.”
According to CNN, when she criticized Trump, some of her colleagues booed her.
According to Rep. Ken Buck, a conservative Colorado Republican, she ended her remarks with a prayer, which earned her a standing ovation.
Then, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina introduced a motion to recall Cheney, formally initiating the process of removing her as conference chair.
Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, spoke briefly before a voice vote was called. There is no count of those who supported or opposed Cheney because it was a voice vote.
McCarthy made the same points he made in his letter, which was released on Monday before the vote, according to a source in the room.
According to another source, five lawmakers stood to request a recorded vote to remove Cheney from the presidency, but this did not occur, and the gavel fell.
According to the source, Cheney told colleagues that it was up to McCarthy, a California Republican, whether he wanted a voice vote or not.
Following her dismissal, Cheney walked out of the meeting and spoke to reporters, stating that she intends to lead the fight to bring the Republican Party closer to the fundamental principles of conservatism.
“I am absolutely committed, as I said last night, as I said just now to my colleagues, that we must go forward based on truth,” she said. “We cannot both embrace the ‘big lie’ and embrace the Constitution. And going forward, the nation needs it, the nation needs a strong Republican Party, the nation needs a party that that is based upon fundamental principles of conservatism, and I am committed and dedicated to ensuring that that’s how this party goes forward, and I plan to lead the fight to do that.”
