Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., will likely become the highest-ranking female Republican in American government by midday Wednesday. It’s all but a fait accompli that the House GOPers will bounce House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from her post and install Stefanik.
But the fight over Stefanik or Cheney frankly has very little to do with either of them.
This is a vote about former President Trump and his continued domination of the Republican Party.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., chairs the Republican Study Committee, the largest bloc of conservatives in the House. Many expect Banks could be a candidate for the GOP leadership sooner rather than later. Cheney has called out Trump and fellow Republicans over purported fraud in the election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. But during an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Banks explained that very discussion is Cheney’s transgression.
“In her leadership post, she doesn’t just represent their district. They represent 212 members of the Republican Conference. And right now, it’s clear that she doesn’t represent the views of the majority of our conference or the focus that all of us have to win back the majority,” said Banks.
Cheney is crossways with most House Republicans. That’s why House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., ditched Cheney. The fight over Cheney is really a partial relitigation of the 2020 election and how the party remains attached to the former president as it tries to reclaim the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms.
Cheney voted to certify the Electoral College on Jan. 6. Two-thirds of all House Republicans voted to contest the electoral results from Arizona and Pennsylvania. Many House Republicans also wanted to challenge the electoral votes from Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Georgia but couldn’t round up a Senate petitioner to launch a congressional debate on Jan. 6. Then, Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president after the riot. And then, Cheney continued talk about the riot and how the president and many of her colleagues pushed the narrative that Trump may actually have won.
Many House Republicans say they were OK with Cheney voting to impeach. It was a vote of conscience – although there’s a lot of doubt whether Republicans actually are OK with her voting that way. The Ohio Republican Party voted to censure Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, last week. He also voted to impeach the former president.
House Republicans say the problem with Cheney is that she “continued” to talk about the riot and the Electoral College after surviving a no-confidence vote in February. But a lot has developed since that vote. Republicans have discovered that Trump remains the most powerful force in the GOP. McCarthy teamed up with the former president, earning a promise to help Republicans flip the House. And, because many Republican voters still support Trump, most House GOPers are afraid to stand against him, lest he excoriate them or back a primary challenger.
On Monday, Trump declared that Republicans have “a massive opportunity to upgrade” from “warmonger” Cheney to “gifted communicator” Stefanik.
“We need someone in Leadership who has experience flipping districts from Blue to Red as we approach the important 2022 midterms, and that’s Elise!” Trump said in a statement. “She knows how to win, which is what we need!”