WASHINGTON (AP) — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stepped up pressure on No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney on Tuesday, claiming rank-and-file concerns about “her ability to carry out her job” as she trades insults with former President Donald Trump.

McCarthy's comments on the Fox News Channel underscored the continued, if not growing, grip that the former president has on the House GOP. They also spotlighted an increasingly open split between McCarthy and Cheney.

Rather than standing by Cheney — as he did during a failed effort to oust her in February — McCarthy essentially planted himself in the camp of her pro-Trump critics. His positioning with her detractors and their increasingly outspoken attacks suggest her hold on her leadership job is in renewed peril.

“I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out her job as conference chair, to carry out the message," said McCarthy, R-Calif. “We all need to be working as one if we’re able to win the majority. Remember, majorities are not given. They are earned.”

McCarthy's remarks come with Republicans optimistic about their chances of winning back control of the House in the 2022 elections. The GOP believes it has a trove of issues to use against Democrats and wants the focus there, not on internal party rifts.

But between now and next year’s elections, the GOP must resolve the power struggle between the party’s pro-Trump loyalists and those who believe he has damaged the party and country by repeatedly — and falsely — claiming that last November’s presidential election was stolen from him.

The fight between Cheney and her critics stands as a microcosm of that battle. It also puts the GOP in the awkward position of seeking to oust its highest-ranking woman from her post at a time when the party is trying to erode Democrats’ decisive advantage among female voters.

Asked about McCarthy's comments, Cheney spokesperson Jeremy Adler said in a written statement, "This is about whether the Republican Party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election and attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan 6. Liz will not do that. That is the issue.”

Further demonstrating the schism between the two GOP leaders, one top Republican congressional aide said McCarthy had weeks ago urged Cheney to stop talking about Trump, and her failure to do that has boosted frustration with her. McCarthy, who delivered a speech supporting her when House Republicans privately voted to keep her in February, will not do that this time, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

A vote on whether to remove Cheney could occur as early as next Wednesday, when House Republicans are next scheduled to meet. The House is not in session this week.

Potential contenders to replace Cheney include Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Jackie Walorski of Indiana, the aide said.

McCarthy was interviewed a day after Trump mounted a fresh offensive on his assertions. Numerous state and federal courts and local election officials have unearthed no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 voting,

Trump critics have labeled his claims “The Big Lie,” and he issued a statement trying to claim that moniker himself.

“The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!” he wrote.

But Cheney, R-Wyo., quickly fired back. She was among 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in encouraging the Jan. 6 attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol, and she used Twitter on Monday to respond to Trump.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the House Republican Conference chair, speaks with reporters following a GOP strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington in April. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system,” she wrote.

In response to Cheney, Trump issued a fresh statement reiterating his desire to see her defeated by another Republican in next year’s Wyoming GOP primary and claiming that people in her state “never liked her much.”

Underscoring the Republican rift, Cheney criticized Trump anew at a a donor event she attended over the weekend with the conservative American Enterprise Institute at Sea Island, Georgia, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

“We can’t embrace the notion the election is stolen. It’s a poison in the bloodstream of our democracy,” Cheney said, in comments first reported by CNN. “We can’t whitewash what happened on Jan. 6 or perpetuate Trump’s big lie. It is a threat to democracy. What he did on Jan. 6 is a line that cannot be crossed.”

In another illustration of internal GOP tensions, Cheney and McCarthy have not appeared together at House Republican leadership news conferences for weeks.

Republicans believe Democrats will be vulnerable over President Joe Biden’s handling of the huge numbers of migrants trying to cross the Southwest border and for not prompting pandemic-shuttered schools and businesses to reopen faster.

In February, conservatives unhappy over Cheney's confrontations with Trump overwhelmingly lost a secret ballot vote of House Republicans aimed at ousting her from her leadership job, 145-61.

But in recent weeks, Cheney's continued willingness to speak out against Trump has prompted fresh criticism of her. She is a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and like him is viewed as part of the GOP establishment, making her a natural target for the party's pro-Trump conservatives.

McCarthy has told reporters that during the House GOP's closed-door February meeting that resulted in Cheney keeping her job, he had defended her.

“People can have differences of opinion. That’s what you can have a discussion about. Liz has a right to vote her conscience,” McCarthy said then.

However, McCarthy struck a completely different tone on Tuesday. He said GOP lawmakers are concerned about the party's messaging, which is part of the No. 3 leader's job.

“What’s our best step forward, that we could all work together instead of attacking one another,” McCarthy said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said it pained her to vote against the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

But in the weeks that followed, the first-term Republican issued a news release celebrating more than $3.7 million from the package that went to community health centers in her district as one of her “achievements.” She said she prided herself on “bringing federal funding to the district and back into the pockets of taxpayers.”

Malliotakis is far from alone.

Every Republican in Congress voted against the sweeping pandemic relief bill that President Joe Biden signed into law three months ago. But since the early spring votes, Republicans from New York and Indiana to Texas and Washington state have promoted elements of the legislation they fought to defeat.

The Republicans' favorite provisions represent a tiny sliver of the massive law, which sent $1,400 checks to millions of Americans, extended unemployment benefits until September, increased the child tax credit, offered housing assistance for millions of low-income Americans and expanded health care coverage. Republicans tried to negotiate a smaller package, arguing that Biden's plan was too expensive and not focused enough on the nation’s health and economic crises.

Democrats are promising to make the pandemic relief vote — and the Republican resistance to it — a central element in their political strategy moving into next year's midterm elections as they defend delicate House and Senate majorities. And there are early signs that Republicans may struggle to defend their opposition to the popular legislative package, which was designed to protect the nation's fragile economic recovery following the worst public health threat in a century.

GOP lawmakers have been especially bullish about promoting the rescue plan's Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which devoted $28.6 billion to the struggling industry. Applications for the program opened this week.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., topped a group of at least eight Republicans who have encouraged constituents to apply in recent days. The others included Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.; Greg Pence, R-Ind.; Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash.; Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas; Troy Balderson, R-Ohio; and Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio.

“The Congresswoman is using her platform to inform her constituents of federal funds and resources available to them,” Stefanik spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. “She did not claim to support the bill in the tweet, and her constituents deserve to know about federal programs they can apply for regardless of how she votes.”

Wicker's office noted that he voted against the full package, but led efforts to ensure the restaurant relief was included.

“Sen. Wicker co-authored the amendment that successfully added the Restaurant provision to the reconciliation bill. Why wouldn’t he want to encourage participation?” Wicker spokesman Phillip Waller said.

The Independent Restaurant Coalition acknowledged the Republican's awkward position, but offered its thanks anyway.

“Senator Wicker did not vote for the package (we wish all members did!), but his work on the RESTAURANTS Act from the beginning made the relief fund possible,” the industry group tweeted. “We are grateful for that work.”

And White House spokesman Andrew Bates sarcastically expressed appreciation for the Republicans who have begun to tout elements of Biden’s stimulus.

“The American people — majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans — have long been firmly unified behind the American Rescue Plan,” Bates said. “So it’s heartening to see Republicans in Congress reaching across the aisle to endorse it — even retroactively.”

The politics of the Republican position are complicated.

The GOP ultimately benefited politically after uniting against the massive economic stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. Republicans scored massive gains in the House and Senate the following year. While the GOP is optimistic it will retake the House majority in 2022, it's far from clear whether the stimulus vote will help it get there.

Polling suggests the Biden stimulus is overwhelmingly popular. Two in 3 voters have consistently supported the $1.9 trillion package in recent polling, while individual elements such as the $1,400 direct payments to individuals are even more popular.

And just three months after the bill was signed into law, the Republican opposition has only begun to be tested.

The Democratic National Committee has already launched “digital takeovers” of local news websites in Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania to thank Democrats and highlight the Republican obstruction. The White House's political arm has also put up billboards in 20 states calling out Republicans and focused on the Republican opposition in training for Democratic officials.

“Between now and next year’s midterm elections, we’re going to make sure every voter remembers how Republicans tried to stand in the way of this economic boom and our return to normalcy," said DNC spokesman Ammar Moussa. "And you can count on Democrats to call Republicans out for their hypocrisy when they try to tout the same programs they voted against.”

Beyond funding for restaurants, Republicans have also touted millions of dollars in health care grants allocated to their districts in the latest stimulus plan.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., in late March pointed to millions of dollars in such grants on social media, saying he was “proud” to see the taxpayer dollars returning to his district. A spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., issued a news release at roughly the same time to promote more than $41 million spread across 12 health care centers in his district.

“I am glad that this funding has been secured," he said, neglecting to mention how it was secured.

The four-term Republican congressman defended his decision to highlight the grants this week in a statement.

“Despite what anyone claims, all money that is appropriated by Congress is derived from the taxpayer, not President Biden," Mooney said. “Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent, especially as it affects their towns and communities.”

Malliotakis, who took office in January, promoted more than $3.7 million in health care grants from the Biden stimulus among her achievements in a self-issued “First 100 Days Report Card.”

"These grants were among the 9% of funds dedicated to COVID-19 relief that I was always in support of," Malliotakis said in a statement. “Regardless of any particular vote, I’m going to help individuals, small businesses and nonprofit organizations get funding they are entitled to."