Colorado Republican House Members Have Differing Reactions After Liz Cheney Is Removed From Leadership Post
(CBS4) - House Republicans have removed Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership position. She was ousted as conference chair in a voice vote by House GOP members shortly after their closed-door meeting came to order, CBS News reports.
The action was expected because of Cheney's criticism of former President Donald Trump. She said her party cannon embrace both the lie -- in reference to the failed 2020 re-election bid that Trump still claims falsely that he won -- and embrace the U.S. Constitution.
Cheney says she's not backing down.
"I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office. We have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language, she said.
Cheney says she does not feel betrayed by the vote. She says it shows where the Republican Party is and that she believes it needs to change.
Rep. Ken Buck, who represents Colorado's 4th Congressional District, was the only Republican to stay in the House chambers for an address by Cheney on Tuesday night. According to CBS News, after the vote on Wednesday Buck said Cheney "was canceled for speaking her mind."
The office of Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican who represents Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, issued a statement saying she supported Cheney's removal: "Cheney took her eye off the prize and was more focused on tearing down conservative leaders than she was advancing the conservative agenda."
On Wednesday morning she tweeted the following: "Liz Cheney is the GOP of the past. We are not going back."
Liz Cheney is the GOP of the past. We are not going back.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 12, 2021
Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican who represents Colorado's 5th Congressional District, says the vote was not about Cheney's vote to impeach Trump, instead it was about the "direction and future of the Republican conference and supporting the will of our voters."
"The outcry of the left-wing media is only a blatant attempt to drive a wedge in the Republican party," Lamborn wrote.