Illinois Congresswoman Mary Miller votes to oust Cheney; Bost and Davis votes unclear
Congressional Republicans voted to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from leadership Wednesday morning over her criticisms of former President Donald Trump, though only one member of Congress from southern Illinois has shared how she voted.
A tweet from U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, said Cheney “is seriously out of step with Republicans and is no longer capable of effectively leading the party.”
The vote was a litmus test for Republican support of the former president and of his ongoing influence on the GOP.
“The leadership of the Republican conference should represent our voters, who overwhelmingly support Trump,” another tweet from Miller said.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro said in a statement Republicans need to unite, but did not say whether he supported Cheney or not in the vote. An official tally was not immediately available because the voice vote was held behind closed doors.
“Instead of focusing on internal divisions, it is time for the Republican Party to unite behind a positive vision for working families and ensure that the Washington Democrats’ far left agenda does not become the law of the land,” Bost said.
Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville echoed Bost’s statement that Republicans need to come together on more pressing issues.
“Liz is a good friend, and I thought she did a good job as conference chair. I’d like to thank her for her leadership. Our country has real problems that are going unaddressed,” Davis said in an emailed statement, “a crisis at the southern border, cyber attack on a major pipeline, gas shortages, inflation and rising food and gas prices, lackluster jobs report, an economy hampered by government, kids still not in school, Israel under attack by Hamas terrorists, the list goes on. Democrats are in total control of Washington, yet they refuse to work on real solutions to these problems we face. I’m 100% focused on policy solutions that will improve the lives of the families and taxpayers I represent, and that’s exactly what Congress should be focused on.”
U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican whose district stretches from central Illinois to the Wisconsin border, said he supported Cheney, who has been outspoken in her condemnation of Trump’s election denialism.
“Liz has committed the only sin of being consistent and telling the truth. The truth is that the election was not stolen,” Kinzinger said, according to CNN. “74 million voters were not disenfranchised — they were just outnumbered.”
Opposition to Cheney’s leadership mounted after Trump and other Republicans attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, though judges and state officials from both parties upheld the results.
Republicans are expected to replace Cheney with with Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York. Though Cheney has a more conservative voting record, Stefanik has been a vocal supporter of Trump.
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 10:15 AM.
