House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Friday he won’t “rule out” removing Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, from her House Armed Services Committee assignment, indicating that the move could come after she agreed to join a Democrat-run panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
“I think it’s a conference decision,” McCarthy told reporters during his Friday press conference. ”The conference will look at it.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has chosen Cheney and is considering adding another vocal opponent of former President Donald Trump, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who, like Cheney, voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 incident, to the investigatory panel.
Last week, Pelosi rejected two of five GOP members McCarthy sought to appoint to the committee, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana. That led the minority leader to pull all five Republicans.
Cheney has already been removed from her No. 3 House GOP post as head of the Republican Conference earlier this year by vote of members of her caucus.
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s political future is also unclear as Trump has vowed to meet with candidates who are set to challenge her during next year’s Wyoming Republican primary.
Trump won Wyoming with about 70% of the vote in 2020.
Earlier this week, the Club for Growth Action, which is the political wing of the Club for Growth, a group that advocates for smaller government, released an attack ad comparing Cheney to former Democratic presidential nominee and first lady Hillary Clinton.
The ad is slated to play statewide in Wyoming since the state has only one U.S. House member.
The ad begins with pictures of the former first lady who was also the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, a former New York Senator, and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate.
It then makes a reference to Pelosi.
“Remember? She benefited from a famous political last name,” the ad narrator said.
“She sided with Nancy Pelosi and attacked President Trump when he was in office. She supported impeachment, and she continues to attack President Trump today,” the ad continues.
“Hillary Clinton? No, Liz Cheney,” the voiceover notes.
At that point, the photo of Clinton morphs into one of Cheney.
Asked to respond, a spokesman for Cheney ripped the ad in a statement: “Anyone who questions Liz Cheney’s conservative credentials is ignorant or lying.”
That said, the Club for Growth Foundation Scorecard, which bases its congressional rankings on voting records as they pertain to “economic liberty,” gave Cheney a 64% lifetime rating.
That “leaves her tied for 120th in the House,” the group noted.
“Paying close attention to the Wyoming House Primary against loser RINO Liz Cheney. Some highly respected pollsters tell me she’s toast in Wyoming after siding with Crazy Nancy Pelosi and supporting the Democrat Impeachment Hoax,” Trump said in a statement issued through his political action committee Save America on Tuesday.
“And that’s just the beginning! This is a ‘hot’ race with some very interesting candidates running against her,” he added.
“Remember though, in the end we just want ONE CANDIDATE running against Cheney,” Trump continued.
“I’ll be meeting with some of her opponents in Bedminster next week and will be making my decision on who to endorse in the next few months. JUST ONE CANDIDATE. Thank you!” the former president said.
