Another liberal “Republican” – U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of California – accused Meadows of filing the motion as a fundraising gimmick. (Meadows regained the spot after protests from other conservative lawmakers.). It helps the Democrats.
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“We will be getting bogged down on who is speaker over the August recess”, said Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y. We should be talking about Iran. Lamar Smith, Mike McCaul and Kevin Brady and Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, as alternatives. “I’ve seen some estimates of 56 separate votes, though some put the total a little higher”, he writes.
“The Speaker’s leadership up to this point has not warranted this action by Mr. Meadows”, Walberg said in an interview.
Meadows seemed to anticipate he wouldn’t have much support from fellow conservatives.
“I like Mark. I don’t know what’s going to happen”.
REP. WALTER JONES (R-NC): We are sent here to represent the people of our districts. Rand Paul, S-Ky., yet one more presidential candidate.
“Sources say Meadows will circulate a so-called discharge petition to force a vote on the motion”. Jones, R-N.C., another Boehner critic, reacted to the resolution by invoking the Lord Voldemort all Republicans fear.
“I’ve learned the hard way: If you’re going to shoot at a king, make sure you kill him”.
He said Meadows’ timing is poor, with the Iran deal looming and Boehner not having done anything lately to really anger conservatives.
Wednesday, though, Boehner brushed aside the scuttlebutt as “no big deal”. Allies of Meadows approached Chaffetz and cited an internal committee rule that they could vote to give him back his post and Chaffetz restored him in the position. He told reporters that he wanted to spark a conversation about Boehner’s leadership tactics. Meadows, a second-term Republican, hadn’t even asked for a meeting with Boehner or other top Republicans to air his gripes, Politico news website reported on Tuesday. “I’ve got broad support amongst my colleagues”, Boehner insisted at his weekly press conference.
“You’ve got a member here and a member there who are off the reservation”, Boehner told reporters Wednesday. Although that may be true, it still doesn’t negate the fact that there are some Congressional Republicans who want to buck the GOP Establishment. Sen. The move, however, reflected the discontent among the more conservative wing of the House GOP, whose members have been frustrated with the willingness of leaders to compromise on some legislation. Meadows made the rounds on conservative talk radio. The proposal was referred to a committee stacked with Boehner’s loyalists, and is unlikely to emerge. “A lot of the dialogue that has taken place in this Congress has been limited to just a few people making decisions”. Late Tuesday evening, some of Boehner’s close allies and other figures atop the party said they thought Boehner (R-Ohio) should call up Meadows’ resolution himself, as a way to demonstrate his power and tamp down the rebellion from the right for good. And without more House members willing to get on board, file similar resolutions or throw their support behind this one, they’re surely right.
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Not only are both chambers controlled by Republicans, but the Republicans who control the chambers-Ohio Rep. John Boehner as Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (pictured above)-are facing raucous challenges for their own members.
