The now-certain ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney from the No. 3 position in the House Republican hierarchy ''should have happened in February,'' a Republican U.S. representative who supports Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., against Cheney told Newsmax on Thursday.
The Wyoming lawmaker survived as House GOP Conference chairman, the congressional representative explained, ''because [House GOP leader] Kevin McCarthy turned us around and insisted we keep his leadership team together.''
The congressman requested anonymity.
Cheney was "in [a] position to get booted two months ago,'' the same lawmaker told us, adding that he was ready to vote to oust her as chairman upon entering the Feb. 3 closed meeting of House Republicans from which Cheney emerged atop a vote to remove her by 145 to 61.
''She would have lost by that same margin had Kevin not pleaded with us to keep her in place,'' the congressman said. ''She repaid him by saying how proud she was to have voted for impeaching Trump. Had she just kept quiet, this would not have been happening.''
Both McCarthy and House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana are now supporting Stefanik against Cheney in the vote of the Republican House members May 12.
The Republican House member who spoke to us acknowledged: ''I’m voting for Stefanik. But I don’t really like her. Her voting record is definitely not conservative [lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 43.4 percent], and she only became the conservative favorite after she defended President Trump in the [2019] impeachment hearings.
''But I support her because she’s running against Liz Cheney.''
He went on to point out that ''the big story behind this whole Cheney affair is that she could easily lose the Republican primary next year. And the other nine [House] Republicans who voted to impeach Trump and keep talking about it are all going to be very, very vulnerable. No one who takes on Trump will win Republican primaries.''
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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