Cheney out, Stefanik in wings
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik is positioned to move into the third spot in House Republican leadership after GOP representatives voted Wednesday to strip U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of her conference chair post.
Cheney’s ouster was done through a voice vote just after 9 a.m.
In a letter to the House Repub
lican Conference released Wednesday morning, Stefanik took aim at President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“Despite the media’s endless attempts to divide us, our members are united in our laser focus on defeating the radical Socialist Democrat agenda of President Biden and Speaker Pelosi,” Stefanik wrote. “Our members believe that the stakes are far too high for us to be divided. We stand shoulder to shoulder in believing that we have a historic opportunity to work as a team to win back the majority in 2022 on behalf of the American people and save our great country.”
Stefanik, R-schuylerville, has received endorsements from House Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy, R-calif., Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-LA., former President Donald J. Trump and other key Republicans in her bid to succeed Cheney in the role. The vote to hand Stefanik the job may come later this week, depending on the ongoing discussions between the GOP leadership and members, sources told the Times Union.
In a statement released just after the conference vote, Trump called Cheney “a bitter, horrible human being . ... She has no personality or anything good having to do with politics or our Country . ... I look forward to soon watching her as a Paid Contributor on CNN or MSDNC!”
For Stefanik, her ascension to GOP conference chair would place an exclamation point on her meteoric rise among Republicans over the past year and a half.
But Stefanik’s pursuit of the leadership post may not be without competition. Politico, citing multiple Republican sources, reported Wednesday that Texas Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus that Stefanik had met with Tuesday, is considering a bid for the post.
Asked about the Freedom Caucus earlier Tuesday, Stefanik said: “We have a great deal of support from the Freedom Caucus and others.”
In seeking the position, Stefanik has said that if she is selected by her Republican colleagues, she will hold the chairmanship for one term with the objective of propelling the party into the House majority in 2022. Beyond that, the congresswoman has publicly stated that she hopes to lead the House Education and Labor Committee.
Stefanik said her intention is to bring the party together — and embracing Trump and his supporters are key to doing that. That path has contrasted with Cheney’s strategy: She voted to impeach Trump and has blasted his false claims of widespread 2020 election fraud. But Cheney’s rejection of Trump weakened her support in the conference.
“We know that the American people overwhelmingly reject the radical Democrats’ Socialist agenda, but we need to ensure they are hearing our unified conservative vision on the issues that matter to them. Our communications posture must be to go on aggressive offense every single day to break through the biased media,” Stefanik said in her letter to the House GOP Conference. “Our members should be provided key messaging points to fight back against the far-left media narrative on the issues most important to our constituents. A unified leadership team is the key foundation as we work to regain the majority.”
Over the past few years, the 36-year-old congresswoman has rebranded herself from a moderate Republican with an independent streak and willingness to criticize Trump to one of the former president’s most stalwart supporters.
When she was sworn into Congress in 2015, Stefanik became the youngest person elected to the body.
Stefanik initially supported former Gov. John Kasich in 2016. After Trump’s election, she broke with the president and their party on several issues, including blasting Trump’s ban on migrants from specified Muslim counties. She also voted against the 2017 Republican-backed tax law and the party’s 2018 immigration bill.
Two years ago, Stefanik clashed with Rep. Adam Schiff, D-calif., and defended Trump during the House Intelligence Committee hearings for the president’s impeachment inquiry. The exchanges vaulted Stefanik into a national spotlight, prompting Trump to call her a “rising star,” while flooding her campaign coffers — and that of her Democratic opponent — with campaign dollars.
She joined Trump’s impeachment defense team, spoke in support of his reelection at last year’s Republican National Convention and voted against impeaching Trump for his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Unlike Cheney, she’s also raised questions about election fraud and voting procedures in the 2020 election and voted against certifying the results.
Throughout her time in Congress, Stefanik has distinguished herself with sharp messaging and a spirited campaign style.
“She is a millennial woman who comes from a small business family in rural upstate New York, earned a degree from Harvard and has shrewdly navigated the choppy waters of both Washington and New York politics,” state GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy said in a column endorsing her Tuesday. “She is an effective communicator and the battle-tested leader we need as we face the greatest fight of my lifetime: stopping the radical left from transforming America.”
A key to her ascent toward conference chair, Stefanik’s leadership political action committee has helped other Republican women get elected to Congress by fueling their primary campaigns with funding and offering mentoring.
Her work is credited with helping a record 26 Republican women get elected to the House last year — far shy of the female Democrats in the House but double what Republicans had previously. Since then, she’s continued to support Republican women in special and contested elections. Some of these congresswomen — like U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-new Hartford — have endorsed her for GOP conference chair and are marshaling support.
Stefanik has been working the phones, calling and texting her colleagues to secure the GOP conference job, sources said. With key endorsements and no others positioned to succeed Cheney, she is widely expected to get the position.
The few hold-outs appear to be members of the House Freedom Caucus, ultra-conservatives, some of whom have raised concerns about Stefanik’s voting record and others who worry about her ignoring their group.
Freshman firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-georgia, said Monday: “Currently, we only have one member running for chair. I want a break before we vote on a replacement. Options are good and so are conservative votes.”
Punchbowl News reported that other members have grumbled about the quick coronation of Stefanik.