U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney its always willing to speak with fellow House Republicans, especially now in the face of changes championed by new President Joe Biden, one of her staff members said Wednesday.
Cheney is the target of an effort by some House conservatives seeking to have her ousted as the House Republican Conference Chair, the third-highest position among House Republicans, because of her vote to impeach President Donald Trump last week.
Several representatives who objected to Cheney’s position have launched a petition drive to force a special meeting among Republicans to vote on a resolution calling for Cheney to resign from her leadership post.
Cheney’s spokesman, Jeremy Adler, said Cheney welcomes any opportunity to speak with her Republican colleagues, especially given Wednesday’s inauguration of President Joe Biden.
“As President-Elect Biden takes office and begins to Implement an agenda that threatens our economic recovery and reverses course on important national security issues, our conference will be united in standing for conservative solutions to bring the nation together and retake the majority in 2022,” Adler said.
The House Freedom Caucus started work on Jan. 13 to collect enough signatures on a petition to force the meeting.
The Hill, a political website, on Wednesday quoted an anonymous source as saying the petition had the support of more than half of House Republicans.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there had been no official announcement of the petition’s status.
However, since news of the Freedom Caucus’ efforts was released, a number of House Republicans have stepped up to support Cheney’s position, including Reps. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, John Katko of New York and Dan Crenshaw of Texas.
“Let’s get some truth on the record: (Liz Cheney) has a hell of a lot more backbone than most and is a principled leader with a fierce intellect,” Crenshaw said in a posting on his Twitter page. “She will continue to be a much needed leader in the conference, with my full support.”
Cheney’s vote for impeachment, which she said was made as a matter of conscience rather than politics, has also sparked a backlash among some of her constituents.
The Wyoming Republican Party issued an official statement criticizing Cheney, she was censured by the Carbon County Republican Party and the Wyoming Gun Owners called her vote an embarrassment.
