The House GOP leader is telling his Republican colleagues a vote on Liz Cheney’s future in party leadership could come this week

(CNN) —  

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is telling his Republican House colleagues to “anticipate” a vote on Wednesday regarding the current state of the House GOP Conference Chair position, which is expected to end with Liz Cheney being removed from her leadership role over her opposition to former President Donald Trump.

It’s the latest step toward what is increasingly seen as Cheney’s inevitable replacement with Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who has a more moderate voting record than Cheney but has been a full-throated supporter of Trump. Cheney has rankled many of her fellow colleagues by refusing to back down over her condemnation of Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election and specifically his role in inciting the Capitol riot, and the controversy has starkly illustrated the former president’s continued grip over the party.

In his letter, which was first reported by Punchbowl News and obtained by CNN, McCarthy does not mention Cheney by name but said that he and the leadership team should “exist to serve you, not the other way around.” He goes on to say that he wants the “driving focus” of the House GOP to be to win the majority in 2022.

A vote on conference chair is necessary, McCarthy writes, because the controversy over Cheney is distracting from the main goals of winning back the majority.

“If we are to succeed in stopping the radical Democrat agenda from destroying our country, these internal conflicts need to be resolved so as to not detract from the efforts of our collective team. Having heard from so many of you in recent days it’s clear we need to make a change. As such, you should anticipate a vote on recalling the Conference Chair this Wednesday,” McCarthy writes.

McCarthy then tells his fellow members that his goal is to allow the free flow of ideas within the party, but makes it clear the job of leadership is be focused on the goals of the entire caucus, not just one member.

“We are a big tent party,” McCarthy writes. “We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate. All members are elected to represent their constituents as they see fit, but out leadership team cannot afford to be distracted by the important work we were elected to do and the shared goals we hope to achieve.”

McCarthy confirmed on Sunday that he backs Stefanik for the role.

CNN’s Manu Raju contributed to this report.