JUDY WOODRUFF: Now to a leadership shakeup in the GOP and a critical moment for Republicans.
Internal divides over last year's election and the future of the party have again come
to a head, as House Republicans seem to be moving to replace their number three leader.
Lisa Desjardins has our report.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Hi, everybody.
LISA DESJARDINS: A party leader, but for how long? House Republicans seem to have had enough
of their conference chair, Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, and within days are expected to
oust her from leadership.
It's a stunning turn of events in just three months.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): The number one thing that happened in the conference was
unity.
LISA DESJARDINS: When Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Cheney together resoundingly
defeated another attempt to remove her.
REP. LIZ CHENEY: We're not going to be in a situation where people can pick off any
member of leadership.
LISA DESJARDINS: In a secret ballot then, two-thirds of Republicans supported her, despite
inner-party critics like Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who flew to Cheney's home district
to campaign against her.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): You can send Liz Cheney home!
LISA DESJARDINS: A staunch conservative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney,
the congresswoman was seen as a rising star on the right when she won the leadership position
back in 2018.
REP. LIZ CHENEY: We will take a backseat to no one.
LISA DESJARDINS: But that all changed after January 6. Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans
who joined Democrats in impeaching former President Donald Trump, charging that he played
a role in the interaction.
Defending her vote, she released a blistering statement that President Trump lit the flame
of attack.
REP. LIZ CHENEY: The extent to which, following January 6, I don't believe that he should
be playing a role in the future of the party or the country.
LISA DESJARDINS: But President Trump has kept a commanding role in the party and continued
to blast falsehoods about November, this week declaring it "the fraudulent presidential
election of 2020," trying to redefine things the results as the big lie.
On Twitter, Cheney fired back that anyone who claims the election was stolen is "spreading
the big lie and poisoning our democratic system."
Now fellow Republicans say she's gone too far.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY: I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the
job as conference chair.
LISA DESJARDINS: McCarthy is openly asking whether Cheney can communicate the party's
message. And in a comment made before a FOX News interview and leaked to Axios, McCarthy
indicated his personal patience has run out.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY: I think she's got real problems. I have lost confidence. Well, someone
just has to bring a motion. But I assume that will probably take place.
LISA DESJARDINS: Cheney has defenders. On Twitter, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger
said she is being removed for telling the truth.
And The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote: "Purging Liz Cheney for honesty would
diminish the party."
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States: Get rid of them all.
LISA DESJARDINS: But none of that outweighs the party's current standard-bearer, who just
yesterday called Cheney "a warmongering fool" with "no business in Republican Party leadership."
In The Washington Post, Cheney blasted back, writing this is a turning point for the party,
that it needs to stand for conservative principles and steer away from the dangerous Trump cult
of personality.
DONALD TRUMP: Elise Stefanik.
LISA DESJARDINS: But Mr. Trump is moving on, endorsing an ally he pointed out at a 2020
rally, New York Representative Elise Stefanik. With Cheney on the outs, she's the favorite
to become as the sole woman in House GOP leadership.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And Lisa joins me now.
So, Lisa, tell us the latest. What is expected right now with regard to a formal vote on
Cheney?
LISA DESJARDINS: This is extraordinary. It's quiet in Washington, with lawmakers mostly
out of town, but this has been a storm in the Republican Conference this week.
It does seem all signs are for a vote that may be impossible to stop right now next Wednesday
to remove Cheney from her leadership post. Some signs of that today, Elise Stefanik is
calling around, sometimes calling multiple times to members.
But I talked to members like Kevin Brady of Texas, well-respected, who said he supported
Cheney last time on that vote. Now he's undecided. Also, another member who supported Cheney
last time told me they believe that two-thirds of the people who voted with Cheney just three
months ago are now going to vote against her.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Lisa, what has changed since then? As you pointed out, that vote
took place just a few months ago. What are Republicans telling you has changed?
LISA DESJARDINS: I think consider House Republicans in two groups in terms of what's happening
with Liz Cheney.
The first group is Republicans who did vote for Cheney last time, but generally support
President Trump. What I heard from this group, talking to many of them over the past few
days, is that, the last time they voted, Marjorie Taylor Greene was also a factor, because,
remember, at that time, House Republicans were choosing not to punish her for her statements
that were seen as inflammatory.
These Republicans tell me now that, at the time, they didn't feel that they could let
Greene off the hook, but yet punish Cheney. So, in a way, they see that vote as connected
to both sides of the party as it comes to Trump.
They say now, with Cheney making these statements on her own, with Greene sort of out of the
picture, that Cheney has just gone too far and is kind of provoking too much when it
comes to President Trump. So that's the one group.
The other group that's interesting that I spoke with are Republicans who say they actually
agree with Cheney. They think everything she's saying about President Trump is correct. Now,
note, they're not saying in public. But they tell me the problem they have is that they
think her words are empowering President Trump, that she is actually activating his base and
making them consider and talk more about the election as fraudulent in a way they believe
is unhelpful.
They think she is just picking a battle that is actually harming things. And this group,
when you think about it, Judy, you have a situation for Cheney that, if she has lost
those who support President Trump and also has a problem with those who want to move
past President Trump, she's lost nearly all of the House Republicans.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it does sound like it.
Lisa, just stepping back in terms of the politics more broadly, what's the thinking about political
ramifications from this?
LISA DESJARDINS: Well, there are some for Cheney herself. She will have to defend her
seat or decide if she's going to defend her seat. She also has to decide if she will stick
forth and keep up for this leadership election next week.
Some would like her to resign. There's no indication she's going to. In fact, I spoke
to a source familiar with Cheney's thinking, and she says that she doesn't want this post
if it requires that she has to lie in order to keep it. But it does sound like she's willing
to not resign. She's going to make Republicans vote on this.
The other ramification, Judy, Democrats tell me they are hopeful that perhaps this will
help them next year by making the Republican Party look more extreme that it's ousting
someone, even a conservative like Liz Cheney.
What do Republicans say? I talked to a Republican senator and Republican House members. They
don't buy that. They think that the election is a long way away, and they think something
like this is inside Washington.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And just quickly, Lisa, do we know yet whether this vote will be secret
ballot, as the other one was?
LISA DESJARDINS: We expect it to be secret ballot, unless -- I would be surprised if
it is anything else.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa Desjardins with more excellent reporting.
Thank you, Lisa.