Republicans stay quiet after vote to oust Cheney

May 12—Republicans aren't saying much about their decision Wednesday to boot Rep. Liz Cheney from party leadership.

Asked for comment about how he voted on removing the Wyoming Republican as GOP conference chair, Rep. Bob Latta's office responded with two sentences that didn't mention Ms. Cheney at all.

"Congressman Latta is committed to ensuring Republicans are in the best position possible to take back the House in 2022. He remains focused on representing everyone who calls Ohio's Fifth Congressional District home, and will continue to work to combat harmful policies that threaten our American way of life," the Bowling Green Republican's office said in its statement.

Ms. Cheney and Mr. Latta have been allies in the past. She visited northwest Ohio in 2019 for Mr. Latta's annual Lincoln‑Reagan Day fund‑raiser, held that year at Sauder Village.

Ohio Republicans mostly steered clear of discussing Wednesday morning's vote on social media. Many of their most recent posts were about the escalating violence in the Mideast between Israel and Hamas. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Rocky River, who like Ms. Cheney voted to impeach Donald Trump, tweeted Wednesday afternoon about inflation and the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr. Gonzalez told The Hill this month that he would support Ms. Cheney if there were another vote to oust her — she survived an earlier attempt to remove her from party leadership three months ago.

That was before the governing body of the Ohio Republican Party called on Mr. Gonzalez to resign for crossing Mr. Trump in a similar way.

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Not all were completely silent. Rep. Warren Davidson of Troy tweeted after the vote: "Today is a good day for America First Republicans. By removing Liz Cheney as Conference Chair, the House GOP has reaffirmed its commitment to policies that put Americans first.

"For a long time, Rep. Cheney has made it clear she'd prefer endless wars and warrantless surveillance to traditional Republican priorities of limited government and individual freedom. I think replacing her puts Republicans in a better position for 2022."

On Tuesday night, Rep. Jim Jordan appeared on Fox News following Ms. Cheney's last floor speech as conference chair and dismissed her as merely siding with Democrats.

"You can't have the Republican conference chair reciting Democrat talking points," Mr. Jordan said.

It only took 16 minutes for Republicans to decide via a closed‑door voice vote to remove Ms. Cheney from her leadership role for her pushback on Mr. Trump's false claims that 2020's election was stolen. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York is considered the frontrunner to replace her.

In her floor speech on the eve of Wednesday's vote, Ms. Cheney accused the former president of undermining the democratic process.

"This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans. Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar," she said.