Davis, LaHood Not Commenting On Cheney Ouster or Their Vote

By Benjamin Cox on May 12, 2021 at 7:13pm

Local Congressmen Rodney Davis and Darin LaHood have not said whether they voted to oust Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney as the House Republican Conference Chair this morning. Cheney was removed early this morning in a closed-ballot vote by colleagues.

House Republican leadership had said in previous weeks that Cheney’s open fight with former-President Donald Trump had become a distraction and that she should not serve in a leadership position in which the job is to unify the party as it seeks to combat current President Joe Biden’s agenda, as well as hopes of winning back the U.S. House in the 2022 elections.

WLDS sent open inquiries on the Congressmen’s votes today and their reaction to Cheney’s ouster from leader. 13th District Congressman Rodney Davis was the first to respond and provided the following written statement:

“Liz is a good friend, and I thought she did a good job as conference chair. I’d
like to thank her for her leadership. Our country has real problems that are going
unaddressed - a crisis at the southern border, cyber attack on a major pipeline, gas
shortages, inflation and rising food and gas prices, lackluster jobs report, an
economy hampered by government, kids still not in school, Israel under attack by
Hamas terrorists, the list goes on. Democrats are in total control of Washington,
yet they refuse to work on real solutions to these problems we face. I’m 100%
focused on policy solutions that will improve the lives of the families and
taxpayers I represent, and that’s exactly what Congress should be focused on.”

18th District Congressman Darin LaHood responded a short time later with the following written statement:

"I am grateful for Congresswoman Cheney's leadership as Conference Chair. Under the
Biden Administration and Democrat-controlled Washington, we have a crisis at our
southern border, skyrocketing gas prices, and April jobs report that shows a
lackluster recovery. I am committed to addressing these challenges and look forward
to working to unite Republicans throughout Illinois and the country to fire Speaker
Pelosi and take back the House in 2022."

Two other Republicans in the state have made their votes known in closed ballot today. 15th District Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller said that Cheney was “seriously out of step with Republicans and is no longer capable of effectively leading the party.” 16th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger, like Cheney, has been an open critic of former President Trump and was a vocal supporter of Cheney’s over the last few days leading up to this morning’s vote. 12th District Republican Mike Bost said in a published statement that Republicans need to unite, but did not say whether he supported Cheney or not in the vote.