McCarthy is reportedly gambling that dumping Liz Cheney will get Trump to help make him House speaker

Trump and Kevin McCarthy
(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) informed his GOP colleagues on Monday that they should "anticipate a vote" on ousting Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as GOP Conference chair on Wednesday. The push to dump Cheney as the No. 3 House Republican stems from her open sparring with former President Donald Trump and refusal to abide his lie that he actually won the 2020 election.

"We are a big tent party," McCarthy told his colleagues. "And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate." He added that he has "endeavored" to lead the House Republicans by "putting the interests of our members ahead of my own." The thing to remember, Politico's Playbook team noted Tuesday, is "that this is about one man's ambitions," and some House Republicans are now "privately griping" about how McCarthy "has fed a colleague to the MAGA wolves in his quest to become speaker."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.