Wyoming GOP censures Liz Cheney for impeachment vote

The Wyoming Republican party on Saturday voted to censure Congresswoman Liz Cheney over her vote to impeach former President Trump. Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, said Saturday that her vote to impeach was “compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution.” 

The Wyoming GOP approved a censure resolution by a vote of 56 to 8. The censure resolution says the state party will not raise money for her in the future and also asks that she repay any donations made to her 2020 campaign by the state party and any county parties that request it.   

“I’m honored to represent the people of Wyoming in Congress and will always fight for the issues that matter most to our state,” Cheney said in a statement on Saturday. “Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.”  

Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who broke with the party and voted on January 13 to impeach Mr. Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Mr. Trump’s trial will start in the Senate on Tuesday.  

The censure document says Cheney voted for impeachment “despite the lack of any formal hearing being held, evidence being presented, witnesses being sworn to testify, or accusers being questioned.” 

Mr. Trump won nearly 70% of Wyoming voters in November, and Cheney is the only Congresswoman from the state. The Republican party accused of her not being in touch with the voters of the state. The resolution claims that Republicans in the state have since left the party or changed their voter registration. 

Several party members spoke out against the move to censure Cheney. During Saturday’s meeting, Teton County Chairman Alex Muromcew said the state party should resist “this left-wing trend of ‘cancel culture,’ trying to censure and get rid of anybody that we disagree with.” Natrona County Republican Party Chair Joseph McGinley criticized the state party’s recent decisions to censure other state and county lawmakers, including himself. 

With the U.S. House still in session, Cheney did not attend the meeting. There was an empty chair with her name on it to bring attention to her absence, which McGinley said was done in “poor taste.”

“This is our sole representative to the U.S. House. And censuring someone for how they voted doesn’t help in any way, shape or form. If we’re unhappy with voting records then that gets sorted out in the primary. Trying to undermine somebody’s ability to represent the people of Wyoming is counter-productive,” McGinley told CBS News.

Cheney has also faced blowback from national Republicans. Earlier this week, Cheney survived a vote by House Republicans to remove her from her leadership position, with 61 Republicans voting to remove Cheney from her post and 145 voting for her to stay. The vote was conducted via secret ballot.     

On January 28, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz held a rally in Wyoming, blasting Cheney for her impeachment vote and calling her a “Beltway bureaucrat turned fake cowgirl.”

Adam Brewster contributed reporting.