共和党众议员利兹·切尼周二仍在挑衅，而共和党人预计将在几小时后挑衅解除她在众议院共和党的领导地位，警告前总统唐纳德·特朗普美国持续攻击2020年选举威胁美国民主，并有引发更多暴力的风险。
在几名保守派同事谴责“取消文化”后，切尼在一个几乎空无一人的房间里走上众议院，对众议院共和党领导人提出了严厉的指控，要求他们在2005年后将她开除出党她投票弹劾特朗普煽动了1月6日的国会暴乱，以及她对前总统的持续谴责。
切尼说:“保持沉默和忽视谎言会助长说谎者的气焰。”。“我不会参与那件事。当其他人领导我们的政党走上放弃法治的道路，加入前总统破坏我们民主的运动时，我不会袖手旁观。”
尽管切尼言辞激烈，但她几乎承认，在周三上午的闭门党内投票中，她可能会失去职位。众议院共和党人可以以其成员的简单多数推翻她，并很容易被期望在无记名投票中越过这一门槛。
切尼在众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡的支持下，击退了二月份的一次尝试以145比61的票数将她赶下台。但是麦卡锡，他的目标是明年夺回众议院并成为议长，已经公开认可纽约州众议员伊丽莎白·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)因批评特朗普而接替切尼。
麦卡锡周一在给共和党人的一封信中写道:“如果我们要成功阻止激进的民主党议程摧毁我们的国家，这些内部冲突需要解决，以免分散我们集体团队的努力。”
斯特凡尼克曾是前众议院议长保罗·瑞安的助手，在特朗普的第一次弹劾审判中积极为他辩护，并得到第45任总统的支持，取代切尼成为众议院共和党领导层中唯一的女性。
但一些批评切尼的保守派人士对推动拥抱斯特凡尼克表示失望，斯特凡尼克是作为温和派当选国会的，他的投票记录远不如切尼或其他共和党领导人保守，包括投票反对2017年共和党重写税法。
“我认为一个深思熟虑的努力将很好地服务于会议和所有相关人员，”共和党众议员迈克·约翰逊说。众议院共和党会议副主席告诉记者。"我认为我们不应该仓促做出如此重要的决定。"
众议院自由核心小组成员、德克萨斯州共和党众议员奇普·罗伊(Chip Roy)向共和党同事分发了一份备忘录，以她的投票记录为由，对斯特凡尼克提出了指控，甚至建议保留这个职位。
“我们得到了自由核心小组和其他人的大力支持，”斯特凡尼克在回应罗伊的信时告诉记者。
预计共和党人不会在周三上午就切尼的继任者进行投票，但在未来几天为斯特凡尼克和任何其他候选人举行论坛后，可能会就她的继任者进行第二次投票。
这位怀俄明州共和党人表示，她将在投票后继续反对特朗普，因为她和其他一些投票弹劾这位前总统的众议院共和党人正在为一系列针对特朗普支持的对手的激烈初选做准备。
House Republicans poised to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from leadership for Trump criticism
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., remained defiant Tuesday just hours before Republicans are expected toremove her from House GOP leadership, warning that former PresidentDonald Trump's continued attacks against the 2020electionthreaten American democracy and risk inciting more violence.
Taking to the House floor in a near-empty chamber after several conservative colleagues railed against "cancel culture," Cheney delivered a searing indictment of House GOP leaders seeking to expel her from their ranks aftershe voted to impeachTrump for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and her continued denunciations of the former president.
"Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar," Cheney said. "I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president's crusade to undermine our democracy."
Despite her fiery speech, Cheney all but acknowledged that she is likely to lose her post in the closed-door party vote Wednesday morning. House Republicans can unseat her with a simple majority of their members, and are easily expected to clear that threshold in a secret ballot vote.
Cheney, with the support of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.,beat back a February attemptto oust her from leadership in a 145-61 vote. But McCarthy, who aims to retake the House next year and become speaker, hasopenly endorsedRep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to succeed Cheney amid her criticism of Trump.
"If we are to succeed in stopping the radical Democrat agenda from destroying our country, these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team," McCarthy wrote in a letter to Republicans Monday.
Stefanik, once an aide to former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, aggressively defended Trump during his first impeachment trial, and has the support of the 45th president to supplant Cheney as the lone woman in House GOP leadership.
But some conservative critics of Cheney's have voiced frustration with the push to embrace Stefanik, who was elected to Congress as a moderate and has a far less conservative voting record than Cheney or other GOP leaders -- including a vote against the 2017 GOP rewrite of the tax code.
"I think a deliberative effort would serve the conference well and all involved," Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the vice-chair of the House GOP conference, told reporters. "I don't think we should rush such an important decision."
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, distributed a memo to GOP colleagues making the case against Stefanik -- citing her voting record -- and even suggested keeping the role vacant.
"We have a great deal of support from the Freedom Caucus and others," Stefanik told reporters in response to Roy's letter.
Republicans are not expected to vote on Cheney's replacement Wednesday morning, but could hold a second vote on her successor after a forum for Stefanik and any other candidates in the coming days.
The Wyoming Republican said she will continue to speak out against Trump after the vote as she and some of the other House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president gear up for what could be a series of bruising primaries against Trump-backed opponents.
