House Republicans seeking to depose Rep. Liz Cheney from the No. 3 position in the House GOP leadership hierarchy intend to use the same rule of their conference that was aimed at dumping then-Speaker Newt Gingrich many years ago.
"We’ve researched the rules thoroughly and there has been a lot of discussion on how to handle this," Rep. Matt Rosendale, R.-Mont., the first House member to call for Cheney’s exit as House GOP Conference chairman, told Newsmax on Friday morning.
Under the rules of the House Republican Conference, Rosendale explained, a request from any Republican U.S. representative triggers creation of a special panel that would recommend whether Cheney continues in her leadership position.
Since Cheney chairs the conference, she would be expected to select members of the panel sympathetic to her.
But under Rule 6(d) of the Conference Rules, should 50 House Republicans sign a petition, Rosendale said, the issue goes to the full Conference in ten legislative days for an up-or-down vote on Cheney’s status.
"There has been a lot of discussion on this and a lot of sensitivity," said the Montanan, adding that the Republican Steering Committee of the House still has to give out committee assignments and that this could be used by House leaders "as a hammer held over the Members' heads" to get them to back down on opposition to Cheney.
Rosendale also underscored his view that Cheney ''is out of step with the Conference in such a monumental way — as one of ten members who voted the opposite of the rest of the Conference [which opposed the impeachment of President Trump].''
He added his view that most members are opposed to the way the Wyoming lawmaker conducted herself — including signing her statement favoring impeachment as ''Liz Cheney, Chairman of the House Republican Conference.''
In summer 1997, House Republicans felt quite confident they would get the 50 votes they needed to have an up-or-down vote on Gingrich in the Conference and possibly have him replaced as speaker by another Republican. But when coup leaders told House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, he was not their choice for speaker despite being next-in-line in leadership to Gingrich, the Texan informed Gingrich of the coup and it collapsed.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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