Rep. Liz Cheney is perplexing Republican colleagues who understand the Wyoming congresswoman’s determination to purge former President Donald Trump from the GOP but question an approach that is alienating allies and jeopardizing her future in House leadership.
Cheney’s desire to sideline Trump is not the problem. Many House Republicans privately share the sentiment. It’s the congresswoman’s prickly outspokenness and combination of how, when, and where she airs her views of the former president and his role in the party that is frustrating even some admirers. House Republicans are focused on recapturing the majority in 2022. Antagonizing Trump and dividing the conference, internally and from its core voting base, are incompatible with that overriding objective.
Off-message commentary from random, rank-and-file members is expected. But Cheney is the elected conference chairwoman, the No. 3 ranking House GOP leader. Many Republicans find Cheney’s dogged criticism of Trump, and the uncomfortable position it puts them in, disconcerting. For an ambitious politician once projected as the first female Republican speaker, Cheney’s influence, never mind viability as a conference leader, is fading. Republicans are having a hard time understanding what she hopes to accomplish as a diminished figure.
“Nobody understands her calculus, and this is a room full of political animals that understand electoral politics very clearly,” a House GOP aide said. “She’s hemorrhaging allies.” A Republican strategist with ties to House leadership said Cheney is not “being driven by how to win this fight.” A Republican operative in Washington, who is a longtime Cheney supporter, added with disappointment that the congresswoman is “wearing people down.”
That was the assessment offered by a senior House Republican who voted to retain Cheney as conference chairwoman in a February vote of no-confidence. The snap leadership election was called after some Republicans demanded Cheney step down for bucking the majority of the conference with her vote to impeach Trump for his alleged role in the ransacking of the U.S. Capitol by his grassroots supporters on Jan. 6.
“Anytime she has a chance to throw a grenade, she pulls the pin and throws it,” this House Republican said. “The clock is ticking.” Most Republicans interviewed for this story requested anonymity in order to speak candidly, citing the sensitive nature of intraconference politics.
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Cheney has more urgent concerns than preserving her leadership post.
Her reelection prospects in ruby red Wyoming are on thin ice, a product of her vote to impeach Trump on Jan. 13 and constant haranguing of the former president ever since. Trump garnered just shy of 70% of the vote in Wyoming last November, and he and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., are vowing to do whatever it takes to help a Republican challenger oust the congresswoman in the GOP primary next year.
And yet, it has become clear Cheney is not just waging this fight but instigating it deliberately. Whether standing side-by-side with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California during a Capitol Hill news conference; being interviewed on Fox News; speaking at a Washington think tank; or mingling with the press at a House GOP leadership retreat in Florida, Cheney embraces questions about Trump and bluntly declares the 45th president persona-non-grata — at least according to her.
“Anybody who wants to get in that race and who wants to do it on the basis of debating me about whether or not President Trump should have been impeached, I’ll have that debate every day of the week,” Cheney said, regarding her primary, in an interview with Punchbowl News this week. “I think it really matters … something like what happened can happen again.”
Also, this week, Cheney made a point of greeting President Joe Biden as he strode down the center aisle of the House floor on his way to deliver a prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress marking his first 100 days in office. The move, in full view of the television cameras, triggered a backlash from pro-Trump forces and others on the Right. “We’re different political parties. We’re not sworn enemies. We’re Americans,” Cheney tweeted.
With some politicians, repeated, in-your-face provocations might be chalked up to political miscalculation. But Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. She was weaned on politics, and her experience in the arena far predates her election to Congress in 2016. Cheney advisers say the congresswoman is realistic. Cheney is aware Republican voters remain supportive of Trump but is unyielding because she believes it important to the future of the GOP and the country.
“She’s got her eyes wide open. She knows it’s not an easy fight to fight,” a Cheney confidant explained. “She wants the party to be upfront and honest about what happened on Jan. 6 and be the party of truth, the party that stands up for the Constitution.”
Amid the friction, Cheney’s pursuit of Trump has created with so many in her party, some, such as Rep. Adam Kinzinger, are steadfastly supportive. The Illinois congressman, who joined Cheney and eight other House Republicans in voting to impeach Trump, lauded her effort and said it has not undermined her duties as conference chairwoman, a post that is charged with spearheading House GOP messaging strategy.
“The vast majority of things she puts out are pro-Republican talking points,” said Kinzinger, who since January has launched his own uphill battle to Trump’s sway over the GOP. “She may tick some people off. But then, they need to ask why they’re upset.”
