US House Republicans on Wednesday voted to oust GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney from her leadership post for refuting former President Donald Trump's allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential elections.
The decision was made by voice vote, meaning there will be no tally of the lawmakers who voted to dump Cheney, or of those who wanted her to stay on, reported The Hill.
Sources inside the closed-door vote said it was an overwhelming vote against Cheney, marking a remarkable shift from a similar challenge to her leadership status in February, where she had won.
"You cannot have a conference chair who recites Democrat talking points," Representative Jim Jordan, former head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and a close Trump ally, said after the vote.
However, conservative Representative Ken Buck supported Cheney, saying that Republicans likely alienated voters who agree with Cheney's criticisms of Trump, The Hill reported.
"Liz did not agree with President Trump's narrative and she was cancelled. We have to deal with this narrative at some point. There are major issues -- the border, spending -- there are major issues. But to suggest that the American people in 2022 will not consider the fact that we were unwilling to stand up to a narrative that the election was stolen, I think will be taken into consideration with their vote," he said.
President Joe Biden, in his third attempt at the White House, defeated Trump in a closely contested election last year to become the 46th president of the United States.
The former vice president was declared the President-elect after victory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which took him past the electoral college threshold of 270 votes.
However, Trump refused to concede defeat, saying that the election was "far from over", and promised legal challenges by his re-election campaign, which culminated in a deadly riot at the US Capitol.
( With inputs from ANI )
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