Nearly four months after former GOP Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy was booted from his leadership role, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert suggested the caucus may need to do the same to current Speaker Mike Johnson.
Appearing on far-right provocateur Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast on Thursday, Boebert noted she had a major hand in adjusting the House rulebook in January 2023 to require just one person to be able to submit a motion to vacate the speaker.
She didn’t say directly who — Rep. Chip Roy has mentioned it in interviews — but added that several of her Republican colleagues have suggested using that “lever of accountability” against the current speaker if the House continues to operate inefficiently.
“I don’t want to get there, but we need leadership,” Boebert said. “We have to have some follow through on the promises that we have made to the American people.”
If Boebert or another Republican representative files a motion to vacate Johnson from leadership and he’s successfully ousted in a House vote, it would be both the second time it’s happened in the past six months as well as the second time a speaker has been removed in US history.
Boebert’s criticism of the Republican House speaker comes just weeks after she publicly touted his endorsement for her bid for reelection in a different congressional district and several months after her groping and vaping scandal at a Denver “Beetlejuice” performance.
“I am very grateful to have the support of Speaker Mike Johnson!” Boebert tweeted on January 3. “I look forward to working with him to get President Trump reelected and defend our majority.”