With Liz Cheney Out, Here's How Many Republicans Who Impeached Trump Remain

Along with Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyo.) defeat in the GOP primary race on Tuesday evening, the vast majority of House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump during his second impeachment are slated to leave Congress.

Cheney is the fourth to lose her primary election, while four declined to seek another term. Two others survived their primaries.

Trump has specifically criticized each of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him during his second impeachment. Seven GOP senators also voted to convict him, although the effort ultimately failed and only one of them faces voters in the upcoming midterms.

The former president hailed Cheney’s defeat to GOP candidate Harriet Hageman, who he backed, and wrote that Cheney is “a fool who played right into the hands of those who want to destroy our country.” At the same time, he said her defeat is a “referendum” on the House Jan. 6 committee that Cheney co-chairs.

“I assume that with the very big Liz Cheney loss, far bigger than had ever been anticipated, the January 6th Committee of political Hacks and Thugs will quickly begin the beautiful process of DISSOLUTION? This was a referendum on the never ending Witch Hunt,” Trump wrote.

After the loss, Cheney—the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney—publicly speculated on whether she will consider a 2024 presidential bid, telling NBC News that it is “something that I’m thinking about.”

The other Republican member of the House Jan. 6 panel, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said last year that he won’t run for reelection.

“It has also become increasingly obvious that in order to break the narrative, I cannot focus on both a reelection to Congress and a broader fight nationwide,” he said last year.

Kinzinger had an uphill battle in reclaiming his House seat after spending a significant part of the Trump years criticizing the former president on CNN and other corporate news channels. Observers have speculated that Kinzinger—because of his frequent media appearances—may join a major network channel as a political analyst or commentator.

The move was hailed by Trump, who wrote last year in an email: “2 down, 8 to go!”

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), another pro-impeachment Republican, conceded to Republican challenger Joe Kent after he narrowly defeated her in the GOP primary. Kent was backed by Trump.

“Ever since I was first elected to this seat I have done my very best to serve my home region and our country,” Beutler said last week.

“Though my campaign came up short this time, I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together for the place where I was raised and still call home.”

When Herrera Beutler cast her vote to impeach Trump, she claimed it is “not a fear-based decision” and said she is “choosing truth.”

Rep. Tom Rice (R-S. C.) lost the Republican primary race by more than 25 percentage points to the Trump-backed Russell Fry, a former state representative.

In February, Trump criticized the lawmaker and called him a “coward.”

“Congressman Tom Rice of South Carolina, the coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left, and who actually voted against me on Impeachment Hoax #2, must be thrown out of office ASAP,” he said.

During his campaign, Rice attempted to play up his support for many of Trump’s policies but continued to defend his impeachment of the former president.

After Rice’s defeat, Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) became the second pro-impeachment Republican defeated in their primary. He lost several weeks ago to Trump-backed candidate John Gibbs.

In an NPR interview last week, Meijer suggested that Democrat-bought ads that supported Gibbs were the reason why he lost.... (Read more)

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