US Republicans have voted to oust a top lawmaker, Liz Cheney, from her leadership post over her criticism of former President Donald Trump.
The Wyoming lawmaker, daughter of ex-US Vice-President Dick Cheney, has held the third-ranking post in the House of Representatives since 2019.
On Tuesday she said her party could not stand for truth if it upheld Mr Trump’s false claims he won the 2020 election.
House Republicans will probably replace her this month with a Trump loyalist.
The move is seen as a sign Mr Trump’s grip on the party is stronger than ever six months after he lost the election.
What happened this morning?
Ms Cheney’s fate was decided by House Republicans in a vote behind closed doors on Wednesday morning.
Colleagues reportedly applauded her leadership tenure, but Ms Cheney drew boos when she spoke during the session and said: “We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy.”
The vote was not recorded but lawmakers cast an overwhelming voice vote in favour of removing Ms Cheney from her post.
Immediately following her removal, she told reporters: “I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”
Ms Cheney has repeatedly condemned Mr Trump over his unfounded claims the 2020 vote was stolen from him.
Fellow Republican lawmakers say she is re-litigating the past while they want to move on and focus on the next election.
Why was Liz Cheney in trouble?
Her political fall from grace stems from the aftermath of the Capitol riots on 6 January, when Trump supporters stormed Congress.
She was one of 10 members of her party who voted days later with Democrats to impeach the then-president for incitement of insurrection. He was acquitted in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Accusing her of disloyalty, rank-and-file House Republicans held a vote a month later on unseating Ms Cheney from her role as party conference chair.
But the party’s leader in the lower chamber, Kevin McCarthy, advised colleagues at the time against removing her. She survived the secret ballot by 145-61. Since then she has continued to upbraid Mr Trump.
The final straw for many party colleagues seems to have been her anti-Trump broadside last week in a Washington Post op-ed. After its publication, Mr McCarthy and his deputy, Republican whip Steve Scalise, began taking steps to oust Ms Cheney.
Mr McCarthy was recently caught on a hot mic telling a Fox News presenter: “I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence.”
On Monday, the California congressman wrote to his colleagues: “Each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future.” He added: “It’s clear that we need to make a change.”
Who could replace her?
Elise Stefanik, a four-term congresswoman from upstate New York, is the current favourite to succeed Ms Cheney if she is removed, though such a vote is expected to take place at a later date.
Soon after the vote to remove Ms Cheney, Ms Stefanik quickly signalled her interest in a letter to colleagues, pledging to “unify our message as a team and win the majority in 2022”.
A former critic of Mr Trump, the 36-year-old has morphed over the last couple of years into one of his staunchest allies.
He repaid her loyalty on Monday with an endorsement.
“The House GOP has a massive opportunity to upgrade this week from warmonger Liz Cheney to gifted communicator Elise Stefanik,” he said in a statement.
However, not everyone in the party supports Ms Stefanik, with some complaining that her voting record in the House is too liberal.
Chip Roy, a member of the hardline conservative Freedom Caucus, set forth his opposition to Ms Stefanik in a memo to colleagues on Tuesday.
“Let us contemplate the message Republican leadership is about to send by rushing to coronate a spokesperson whose voting record embodies much of what led to the 2018 ass-kicking we received by Democrats,” the Texas congressman wrote.
Ms Stefanik’s turn toward her party’s right wing is belied by her voting record. The conservative group Heritage Action for America has given Ms Stefanik a lifetime score of 48% for votes on Republican issues. Liz Cheney – whose political defenestration may pave the way for Ms Stefanik’s rise – has a score of 80%.
What next for Cheney?
She is now fighting for her political life back in her constituency, where her party has already voted at the state level to censure her for voting to impeach Mr Trump.
At least five Republicans have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run against her in 2022.
Of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump, nine in total now face primary challengers from within their party to unseat them from Congress next year.
What next for Trump and the party?
Reacting to the news of Ms Cheney’s removal from leadership, Mr Trump released a statement attacking her as “a bitter, horrible human being” and “a talking point for Democrats”.
Mr Trump has been hinting he may run for the White House again in 2024.
Polls indicate he would easily recapture the Republican nomination for a rematch against US President Joe Biden, should the Democrat run for a second term.
Exasperated by Mr Trump’s stranglehold on the party, more than 100 Republicans, including some former elected officials, plan to release a letter this week threatening to form a third party, reports the New York Times.
