U.S. House Republicans keep Cheney who voted for impeaching Trump in leadership

U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday night voted to keep Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, remaining in the party's House leadership.

The 145-61 vote in favor of Cheney, who joined Democrats to vote for impeaching former President Donald Trump last month, was conducted by secret ballot after House Republicans' closed-door "family discussion" for hours on the day.

Cheney found a powerful ally in House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy during Wednesday's meeting.

"People can have differences of opinion ... Liz has a right to vote her conscience. And at the end of the day we'll be united," McCarthy said during a break in the midst of the meeting, noting he wanted to end the internal feud.

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has strongly condemned Trump for his role in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

"The President of the United States (Trump) summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack," she said during the House impeachment process. "Everything that followed was his doing," she noted.

The Democrats-controlled House voted to impeach Trump over "incitement of insurrection" in a 232-197 vote on Jan. 13, making him the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. Ten Republican lawmakers, including Cheney, crossed the party line to cast the "yea" vote in the second impeachment vote.