The Federalist BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy confirmed he would back Rep. Liz Cheney primary challenger Harriet Hageman’s request to be on the Natural Resources Committee.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Two days after the Associated Press wrote off Rep. Liz Cheney as “nowhere” to be found at Cheyenne’s midsummer cowboy festival, the lone congresswoman from Wyoming flipped pancakes for a brief appearance before returning to work on the Jan. 6 Committee.
The pancake breakfast held on every other day of the festivities has been a staple of Cheyenne’s Frontier Days celebration since 1986 when the Kiwanis Club adopted the tradition after an historic flood the year prior. For more than three decades after, volunteers with the Kiwanis Club often joined by members of the Boy Scouts and the Air Force have served thousands of pancakes within a short span of two hours. With its roots in the Cold War-era preparatory drills in the case of a sudden disaster disrupting food supply, the annual spectacle leaves little time for politicians who participate to mingle with their voters. For Cheney, the breakfast offered the perfect opportunity to show face without spending time with constituents left angry by the rarity of their sole congresswoman’s home state presence and her politically charged work as vice chair of the Jan. 6 Committee.
“We need to move on, and go do different things,” said Maria Lemke, an accountant and 25-year resident of Cheyenne who said Cheney’s role on the committee, combined with her frequent absence from the state, has led her to cast a vote for Trump-endorsed primary challenger Harriet Hageman.
