2:27 p.m. ET, May 14, 2021
A look back at Stefanik's rise within House GOP leadership
From CNN's Clare Foran
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images
Rep. Elise Stefanik's rise within the ranks of House GOP leadership and Rep. Liz Cheney's removal starkly
underscores the Republican Party's entrenched loyalty to former President Trump and the limited extent to which it is willing to tolerate dissent even after Trump's election lies incited a deadly attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6.
Aides close to the race also told CNN that Stefanik's quick rise was emblematic of the congresswoman's own ambitions.
"She just outhustled everyone," one senior GOP aide told CNN.
Amid Trump's false claims over voter fraud, Stefanik supported an objection during the Electoral College vote count to affirm President Biden's win. She also signed on in support of an amicus brief backing a lawsuit from Texas to the Supreme Court that sought to overturn the results of the election in several states.
Trump stood by Stefanik in her run for the leadership post and weighed in on Rep. Chip Roy's late entry into the race Thursday evening with a statement slamming the congressman and reiterating his support for the congresswoman.
"Can't imagine Republican House Members would go with Chip Roy — he has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district. I support Elise, by far, over Chip!" he said.
Stefanik has made a pitch to House Republicans that she will help deliver on a message of unity and united opposition to Democrats in Congress and in the White House as the party works to win back the House majority in 2022.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy congratulated Stefanik on her election at a news conference after the vote, before pivoting to criticism of Democrats.
"I want to congratulate Elise Stefanik and welcome her to the leadership team," he said, adding that Republicans had "a healthy debate and a good election."
Stefanik did face pushback from some conservative House Republicans in her bid for leadership.
The congresswoman represents a district that pivoted in the past from voting for former President Barack Obama to Trump and she has long been known on Capitol Hill as a more moderate Republican. And while the congresswoman has made a name for herself as an ardent Trump supporter in recent years, that wasn't always the case.
In 2015, 2016 and the early days of his term in office,
she criticized Trump on a range of issues from his incendiary comments about Muslims and women to his signature policy positions, such as overhauling NATO, building a US-Mexico border wall and having stronger cooperation with Russia.
When House Democrats moved to impeach Trump for the first time in 2019, however, Stefanik emerged as one of the President's most outspoken defenders, taking on Democrats and earning Trump's praise as "a new Republican star."
Read more about today's vote here.