The Wyoming Republican Party is no longer recognizing U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney as a member of the GOP.
The Republican State Central Committee on Saturday voted 31-29 in support of a resolution that states that it will no longer recognize her as a member of the Republican Party.
The resolution is similar to the those adopted by nine county-level parties across the state earlier this year.
Not Just Symbolic
Although the resolution holds no legal authority to remove Cheney’s registration in the party, Joey Correnti, chairman of the Carbon County Republican Party who spearheaded the statewide effort on Saturday, said the gesture is more substantive than one might think.
Correnti compared it to the Wyoming Republican Party’s censure of Cheney earlier this year, which he said resulted in change.
“Yes, our resolution to censure her was symbolic,” Correnti said. “It also helped to get her removed from leadership.
“Yes, our resolution not recognizing her as a Republican is symbolic, but is exactly the thing that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, and Rep. Matt Gaetz have hinted to needing in order to kick her out of the House Republican Conference,” he continued.
Correnti said Cheney must now be removed entirely from the Republican Conference, comparing her to a political spy.
“Liz Cheney is sitting in our locker room, taking notes on our playbook and running it back to her Pelosi committee and basically committing treason on the Republican Party,” he said.
He said the resolution will help bolster support among Republicans to have her removed from the conference.
“They don’t have the outside support within the conference that says even the people this representative was apparently elected by don’t want her here anymore. And now they’ve got it.”
Completely Pointless
Not every Republican agreed with the resolution as evidenced by the razor-thin vote. Nor do all Republicans share Correnti’s view that the resolution is substantive.
Natrona County Committeeman Dr. Joe McGinley said the resolution is “completely pointless and means nothing at all.”
“The Wyoming GOP has lost all credibility and respect among most legitimate Republicans in the state,” McGinley said. “So anything they say, no one really cares.”
McGinley said what was important, however, was the margin of the vote. Because it was so close, it told him that members of the Republican Party are getting tired of the narrative.
“The close vote really was symbolic of people getting fatigued on this issue,” he said. “Some people like to keep bringing it up, I think more personally for attention more than anything else.”
Won’t Affect Cheney
Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, a frequent critic of Republican Party leadership said the best part about the resolution is that it won’t affect Cheney.
“She still gets to run as a Republican because the party doesn’t dictate who belongs and who doesn’t,” Brown said. “That’s not how the GOP works.”
“Sadly, the small amount of people that passed this resolution are the people who couldn’t get elected in their own area,” he said.
Laughable
Cheney spokesperson Jeremy Adler said it was “laughable” to think Cheney is anything but a conservative Republican.
In fact, she voted with Trump 93% of the time and has a 80% lifetime rating with Heritage Action for America — much higher than the congresswoman who replaced her in House Leadership Rep. Elise Stefanik.
“She is bound by her oath to the Constitution,” Adler said. “Sadly, a portion of the Wyoming GOP leadership has abandoned that fundamental principle, and instead allowed themselves to be held hostage to the lies of a dangerous and irrational man.”