Prime Only Members-Only Article

The Real Story on Cheney’s Ouster

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 30: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., conduct a news conference on the China Task Force report in the Capitol’s Rayburn Room on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. The report outlines bipartisan action to combat threats from China. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) conduct a news conference in the Capitols Rayburn Room on September 30, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
By
|
May 12, 2021 12:46 p.m.
THE BACKCHANNEL
FREE EDITION
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
NEW!
A FREE email newsletter from Josh Marshall An email newsletter from Josh Marshall

The big story is that Liz Cheney was ousted from her leadership position for not supporting the Big Lie of the stolen election and for not endorsing the insurrection. But we knew that was coming. The big story today had to do with how the vote was held. These are usually recorded votes and secret ballots. That was the case last month when Cheney retained her position by a decisive margin. Today it was a voice vote. After the vote, as Tierney Sneed notes here, a request for a recorded vote was denied.

This tells you the real story of what happened here.

Want to keep reading?

Join TPM to get full-access to our reporting, newsletters, and other member-only features.

Join TPM