House Republicans are expecting Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming to run for Senate in 2020 even as their third-ranking conference leader is declining to tip her hand.
Indeed, it is that silence on the matter from Cheney since Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., announced Saturday he would not seek reelection that is the tip-off for House Republicans. If Cheney, the House Republican Conference chairwoman, intended to stick around, she would have quickly said as much to inquiring colleagues.
Cheney on Wednesday deflected questions about a potential Senate run.
“I don’t have any announcements to make.” she said after being pressed by reporters during the House GOP leadership team’s weekly news conference.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in an interview Tuesday with the Washington Examiner, “It’s kind of an off-limit discussion right now.”
Cheney, 52 is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and the two have worked closely together as the congresswoman has plotted her political ascent. Liz Cheney briefly sought the Senate in 2014, launching a primary challenge against Enzi, before dropping out citing family issues. She won the at-large Wyoming House seat her father once held two years later.
With Cheney’s interest in foreign policy and designs on higher office, running for Senate would appear a foregone conclusion. House Republicans certainly think it is. As word of Enzi’s retirement reached them over the weekend, discussions about who might replace her as conference chairwoman got underway.
“There has been a lot of chatter about who will run for conference chair when Liz Cheney announces for Senate,” a GOP lobbyist with relationships in the House said. Perhaps fueling speculation, Cheney as she headed toward House votes on Tuesday was spotted with Trent Lott, the Republican former Senate majority leader from Mississippi. “Call me anytime,” he was overheard telling her.
In the Senate, Republicans broached the topic gingerly.
Sources tell the Washington Examiner that conversations have been initiated to gauge her interest in the seat Enzi has held since winning his first term in 1996. Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he has not talked with Cheney, but confirmed that some of “my colleagues” have.
“We haven’t decided to get involved,” Young said, when asked if the NRSC would like to see Cheney run for Senate. Enzi, asked what he thinks about Cheney running for his seat, said the Wyoming delegation — all three of them — has a policy of neutrality in primaries.
“She’s terrific,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. “We’ll hold the seat no matter who runs.” The state is deep red territory, dominated by Republicans in Washington and in Cheyenne, the state capital.
Cheney’s decision to pursue House leadership, coming after the Republicans’ 2018 wipeout, was interpreted as a choice to forgo the Senate in favor of using the House as her vehicle to influence the direction of the GOP. However, that choice was made when it was assumed Enzi was running for reelection, and that there would not be an open Senate seat any time soon.
If Cheney is wavering at all on a Senate bid, it would be due to the allure of the speaker’s gavel, and because she is enjoying her role as the House Republicans’ chief messaging strategist, the leadership post once held by her father. Impressed by her performance as conference chairman, some Republican insiders believe Cheney could be on track to become speaker when the party next wins control of the House.
Nonetheless, Cheney, who might also be eyeing a future presidential bid, is likely to face at least both internal and external pressure to run for Senate. Bill Cubin, the son of former seven-term Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin, a Republican, said his mother would urge Cheney to run for Senate.
“If she were to call my mother and get her opinion … I can tell you my mother would advise her to run for Senate,” Bill Cubin said. “Senators have a lot more power than even a lot of members of House leadership.”
— Naomi Lim contributed to this report.
