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Wyoming GOP leaders say they no longer recognize Cheney as party member

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) makes an opening statement during a hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on US Capitol on Tuesday, July 27, 2021
AP/Pool

The GOP groups of two Wyoming counties have both voted to no longer recognize Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as a member of the Republican Party, the latest moves against the congresswoman months after she voted to impeach former President Trump. 

Martin Kimmet, the chairman of the Park County Republicans, wrote in a Thursday letter to Cheney, “You will no longer be recognized as the official Republican Congressional Representative by the Park County Republican Party,” according to the Casper Star-Tribune

The Carbon County Republicans followed this move by voting unanimously to back a formal resolution denouncing Cheney. 

Carbon County GOP Chairman Joey Correnti told the Star-Tribune, “Park County set up the ball, Carbon County spiked it.” 

“And now other counties, I say by the end of the week you’ll have at least three or four other counties that are having meetings that will pass a similar resolution,” Correnti said, adding that Republican parties in Uinta, Big Horn, Laramie and Weston counties have requested copies of his county’s resolution. 

The Park County letter and the Carbon County resolution contained similar lines, both ending with, “In the immortal words of the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump …‘You’re Fired!’ ”

Cheney has received several public rebukes from members of her own party for her vote to impeach Trump, as well as her continued criticisms of the former president’s repeated false claims of a stolen 2020 election. 

The Wyoming state GOP in February voted to censure Cheney for her impeachment vote, and she was eventually removed from her position as House Republican Conference Chair in May. 

Cheney was replaced as the No. 3 House Republican by Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), who received the backing of Trump, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). 

However, the Wyoming congresswoman has continued to stand by her opposition to Trump, and Cheney spokesperson Jeremy Adler said in a statement to The Hill Tuesday that she remains undeterred by the latest move by the local GOP groups in her home state. 

“Liz will continue to fight for all the people of Wyoming,” Adler said. “She knows that she and all elected officials are bound by their duty under the US Constitution, not by blind loyalty to one man.” 

Cheney already faces eight primary challengers for her seat ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, and Trump has promised to throw an endorsement behind a Cheney opponent of his choice.

Tags Censure Cheney ouster Donald Trump Elise Stefanik House Republican Conference Kevin McCarthy Liz Cheney Steve Scalise Trump election claims Wyoming

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