WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele told FOX News that part of his job is to "manage the money" and suggested that if committee members strip him of that authority he'll step aside.
"They can contemplate all they want to, but the reality is if they want a figurehead chairman you can have a figurehead chairman, but it won't be Michael Steele," he said.
On Wednesday, Republican National Committee state chairmen will vote on this issue, among others — such as whether to label the Democratic Party "Socialist."
Steele, who is delivering a speech Tuesday on the future of the GOP, said some of the animosity is from people in the party who supported other candidates for chairman. But some of his critics are former allies.
"Some of them were supposedly friends that were in some cases, when I was a young state party chairman, were mentors to me and it's kind of eerie to see them standing on their knives bared," he said.
Some friction comes from Steele's misteps and gaffes. Some comes from his firing of numerous RNC staffers when he took office.
Committee members say all they want is financial accountability in the RNC management.
FOX News' Carl Cameron and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.
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