Kevin McCarthy tried to get Liz Cheney to apologize for voting to impeach former President Trump before last week’s highly anticipated House GOP conference meeting — a request she refused, two people with direct knowledge told Axios.
Why it matters: Cheney rolled the dice, refusing her leader’s ask and counting on her supporters to keep her as conference chair, the party’s No. 3 post in the House. Newly empowered, she’s now embracing her role as the Republicans’ Trump critic-in-chief.
What we’re hearing: McCarthy, who hesitated in the first place about holding a vote to oust Cheney, told her privately hours before Wednesday’s caucus meeting that their members wanted to hear her say she was sorry.
- He also suggested it could sway some of her opponents.
- Cheney’s team, though, did a whip count, and she was confident she’d secure at least 142 votes, the sources said.
- A McCarthy representative declined to comment.
Inside the room: “Several members have asked me to apologize for the vote, they’ve asked my colleagues who also voted to impeach to apologize for the vote,” Cheney (R-Wyo.) told her colleagues.
- “I cannot do that. It was a vote of conscience. It was a vote of principle — a principle on which I stand and still believe.”
- Toward the end of last week’s four-plus hour meeting, Cheney and members of the House Freedom Caucus demanded — for opposite reasons — that the conference take a vote. She ended up winning 145-61.
What to watch: Cheney is now looking to take advantage of her heightened profile.
- On Monday, she’ll hold a virtual fundraising event, according to a copy of an invitation obtained by Axios.
- Notable guests include former House Speaker John Boehner; Sara Bonjean, a GOP fundraiser and wife of former congressional leadership aide Ron Bonjean; former Florida Rep. Ilheana Ros-Lehtinen; and former George W. Bush official Maria Cino.
She also doubled down on her condemnation of the former president during a Fox News interview Sunday, telling Chris Wallace that Trump “does not have a role as the leader of our party going forward.”
- “People have been lied to,” Cheney said. “President Trump, for months leading up to January 6th, spread the notion that the election had been stolen … and people need to understand that.”
But, but, but: The criticism hasn’t completely faded for Cheney.
- The Wyoming Republican Party voted Saturday to censure her over the Trump impeachment vote.
- She also retains numerous critics in the Freedom Caucus and national Republican circles.
Source: Axios Breaking News
