Sunday shows preview: House GOP removes Cheney from leadership position; CDC issues new guidance for fully vaccinated Americans

House Republicans’ removal this week of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as their conference chair and an updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on vaccinated individuals are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday talk shows. 

House GOP members voted to oust Cheney Wednesday from her leadership position after the Wyoming congresswoman’s repeated criticisms of former President Trump and his unsupported claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. 

Trump allies in Congress publicly defended the move, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who argued, “You can’t have a conference chair who recites Democrat talking points.” 

Other Republicans have expressed dismay over the vote, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who along with Cheney were among the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 

Kinzinger, who is set to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, said in a statement on Twitter this week that the vote to oust Cheney marked a “low point” for the Republican Party. 

GOP Senators also expressed concern over the move, with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the only woman in Senate Republicans’ elected leadership team, calling Cheney’s ousting an example of “cancel culture.”

Ernst is scheduled to appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” this week. 

Since the vote, Cheney has doubled down on her criticisms of Trump, telling reporters Wednesday that she will do “everything” in her power to keep Trump away from the Oval Office if he runs again in 2024. 

Cheney will appear in interviews on both ABC’s “This Week” and “Fox News Sunday.” 

In clips of the ABC interview shared earlier this week, Cheney revealed that she regretted voting for Trump in the 2020 election, and also said that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should “absolutely” testify before the Congressional commission established to investigate the Jan. 6 mob attack. 

House Republicans on Friday voted to replace Cheney with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who was backed by Trump and top House GOP leaders. 

Stefanik after Friday’s vote committed herself to keeping Republicans unified as they look to regain majority control over the House in the 2022 midterm elections, telling reporters that the “American people are suffering under the far-left, socialist policies of President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” 

Stefanik is scheduled to appear on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” this week. 

Amid the leadership shakeup on Capitol Hill, the CDC announced Thursday that those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, except in certain situations. 

Following the announcement, states and businesses across the country began lifting mask requirements to align with the new CDC guidance. 

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Thursday said that the agency issued the updated guidance after additional data in the past few weeks indicated further evidence of the effectiveness of vaccines at preventing the transmission of COVID-19, as well as the vaccine’s ability to work against variants of the infection. 

Walensky is scheduled to make a round of appearances on this week’s Sunday talk shows, with interviews expected on ABC, NBC, CNN and Fox News. 

Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.), who on Friday joined other states in lifting its universal mask mandate in response to the updated CDC guidance, will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. 

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Cheney; Walensky. 

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Walensky; Reps. Kinzinger and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas).

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sens. Ernst and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.); Rep. Adam Schiff (D-N.Y.); Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Walensky; Hogan; Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). 

“Fox News Sunday” — Cheney, Walensky.

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Stefanik; Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.); Mike Pompeo, former U.S. secretary of State, Fox News contributor.