Liz Cheney, the third highest-ranking House Republican, is in trouble.
She’s persistently criticized former President Donald Trump and defended the legitimacy of the 2020 election. And that has Republicans in her caucus angling to remove her from her leadership post.
The Wyoming Republican has few allies, at least allies willing to speak up publicly.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, another Trump critic, is one of them.
On Tuesday, Romney, who twice voted against Trump in his two impeachment trials, tweeted a defense of Cheney.
“Every person of conscience draws a line beyond which they will not go: Liz Cheney refuses to lie. As one of my Republican Senate colleagues said to me following my impeachment vote: ‘I wouldn’t want to be a member of a group that punishes someone for following their conscience.’”
Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump after a pro-Trump mob led a failed insurrection Jan. 6 at the Capitol.
She once again pushed the Republican caucus on Monday to reject the false premise that the election was not legitimate, tweeting, “The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.”
Romney also has called the conspiracy theory of voter fraud impacting the presidential race the “big lie.”
For his stand, Romney was booed at the Utah Republican Convention last weekend.
Cheney is increasingly likely to lose her post as the Republican conference chairwoman. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy signaled as much in an interview on Fox News early Tuesday.
“I have heard from members, concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message,” the California lawmaker said. “We all need to be working as one — if we’re able to win the majority. Remember, majorities are not given, they are earned, and that’s about the message about going forward.”
McCarthy was among the Republicans who voted to decertify the electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania on Jan. 6 — despite a lack of evidence of any serious election problems. Utah Reps. Burgess Owens and Chris Stewart also voted to throw out Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. That effort failed.
