Newsman: House Republicans voted Rep. Elise Stefanik to the No. 3 leadership position of conference chair after ousting Rep. Liz Cheney from the role on Friday May 14th. House Republicans formally ousted Cheney from her leadership post in a voice vote on Wednesday. The final result was 134 votes for Stefanik and 46 for Roy, according to party sources in the room that disclose to media.
Stefanik supported an objection during the Electoral College vote count to affirm President Joe Biden’s win. She also signed on in support of an amicus brief backing a lawsuit from Texas to the Supreme Court that sought to overturn the results of the election in several states.
The congresswoman Stefanik said in a statement after the vote that she is “honored and humbled” to be elected to the leadership post. “House Republicans are united in our focus to fight on behalf of the American people to save our country from the radical Socialist Democrat agenda,” she said.
Stefanik, a high-profile Trump defender, faced a conservative challenger — GOP Rep. Chip Roy — but his candidacy was viewed as a long-shot, and the New York congresswoman had the backing of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Trump.
Trump stood by Stefanik in her run for the leadership post and weighed in on Roy’s late entry into the race Thursday evening with a statement slamming the congressman and reiterating his support for the congresswoman.
“Can’t imagine Republican House Members would go with Chip Roy — he has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district. I support Elise, by far, over Chip!” he said.
Stefanik has made a pitch to House Republicans that she will help deliver on a message of unity and united opposition to Democrats in Congress and in the White House as the party works to win back the House majority in 2022.
McCarthy congratulated Stefanik on her election at a news conference after the vote, before pivoting to criticism of Democrats.
“I want to congratulate Elise Stefanik and welcome her to the leadership team,” he said, adding that Republicans had “a healthy debate and a good election.”
Stefanik was placed to elevate because Rep. Liz Cheney repeatedly called out former President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen.
Stefanik’s rise within the ranks of House GOP leadership and Cheney’s removal starkly underscores the Republican Party’s entrenched loyalty to the former President and the limited extent to which it is willing to tolerate dissent even after Trump’s ‘election lies’ incited a deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
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Stefanik did face pushback from some conservative House Republicans in her bid for leadership.
In 2015, 2016 and the early days of his term in office, she criticized Trump on a range of issues from his incendiary comments about Muslims and women to his signature policy positions, such as overhauling NATO, building a US-Mexico border wall and having stronger cooperation with Russia.
When House Democrats moved to impeach Trump for the first time in 2019, however, Stefanik emerged as one of the President’s most outspoken defenders, taking on Democrats and earning Trump’s praise as “a new Republican star.”
Cheney, on the other hand, is known as a more conservative Republican, but she has also become a major Trump critic. She voted to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol and has continued to speak out against his ‘election lies.’
