GOP divided over Liz Cheney's future

Republicans are divided over the future of House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (Wyo.) after her vote Wednesday to impeach President Trump.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) are circulating a petition that seeks to force Cheney out of her leadership role for her decision, which she called a “vote of conscience.”

They say her decision to announce her position a day before the vote gave Democrats talking points to go after Republicans.

Cheney didn’t take part in the floor debate, but she was mentioned repeatedly by Democratic speakers. Several Republicans noted the remarks by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who cited Cheney as he made the case for Trump’s impeachment.

“If you're in leadership, you can vote your conscience, but you can't get up there and make it harder for the members of your team by giving talking points to the opponents,” one member told The Hill.

Cheney says she’s not stepping down.

“I'm not going anywhere,” she told reporters Wednesday. “This is a vote of conscience. It's one where there are different views in our conference. But our nation is facing an unprecedented, since the civil war, a constitutional crisis.”

And she has plenty of defenders in the conference, even if only nine Republicans joined her in voting to impeach Trump.

“Look, everybody cast the votes that are best for their district and their conscience. If we begin to get in internal fights, if we're going to have disagreements over the votes that are passed, that just gives Democrats wins because of our own self-inflicted internal wounds,” Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), told The Hill.

“I mean we're how many days into a new Congress? Twelve days? At this point in time, we've got to step up and band together to fight the Democrats who are going to run on what is happening here. And Liz has been a fighter since I've known her. I think when push comes to shove, Liz will have the support of the conference. She certainly has my support,” he added.

Republicans hawkish on national security have also backed Cheney, who has frequently battled with Trump on defense issues.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) on Wednesday took to Twitter to praise Cheney as someone with “a hell of a lot more backbone than most, & is a principled leader with a fierce intellect.”

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