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"It's clear that we need to make a change": GOP to vote on ousting Liz Cheney this week

10 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

House Republicans will vote on recalling Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as conference chair this Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced in a letter Monday, Punchbowl News reported.

Why it matters: Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, has faced increasing backlash from McCarthy and her Republican colleagues as she continues to criticize former President Trump and his baseless claims of election fraud.

What he's saying: "[T]hese internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team," McCarthy wrote. "Having heard from so many of you in recent days, it's clear that we need to make a change."

  • "[O]ur leadership team cannot afford to be distracted from the important work we were elected to do and the shared goals we hope to achieve. The stakes are too high to come up short."

The other side: Cheney wrote in a Washington Post op-ed last week that the GOP is at a "turning point" and must decide whether it's going to "choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution."

  • She called out McCarthy's reversal after he commented in January that "the president bears responsibility" for the Capitol insurrection.
  • Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who chairs the Republican Study Committee, said that Cheney's continued criticisms of Trump are "an unwelcome distraction."
  • McCarthy said in his letter that "each day spent relitigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future.

The big picture: Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, and has not shied away from condemning his claims of election fraud.

  • Though McCarthy said publicly the House GOP has "no concern" about her vote, he was caught on a hot mic saying, "I think she's got real problems."
  • Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the only other woman in elected GOP leadership, defended Cheney last Wednesday but called for party unity.
  • Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said Monday ousting Cheney would cost Republicans "quite a few" votes.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said Cheney's comments were "an unwelcome distraction."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.