Blindsiding fellow Republicans and House GOP leaders, a conservative North Carolina congressman launched an effort on Tuesday to oust House Speaker John Boehner.
Rep. Mark Meadows, who was among the group of House Republicans who voted against re-electing Boehner in January, filed a resolution to strip Boehner of his post as House speaker. It doesn’t specify who would replace him.
The two-page resolution ticks off a litany of complaints against Boehner, including “the speaker of the House of Representatives for the 114th Congress has endeavored to consolidate power and centralize decision-making, bypassing the majority of the 435 members of Congress and the people they represent.”
Members were stunned when they arrived for the final vote series of the day and news spread on the House floor.
Many — including close friends of Boehner — weren’t even aware of the development and scurried back to the House floor as reporters attempted to ask about the news.
The surprise move had the effect of dropping a political bomb on the House floor just days before members were scheduled to depart for the summer recess.
One Boehner ally, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California, immediately downplayed the move by Meadows.
“I just think it is a fundraising tool,” he said, suggesting Meadows needed help with his re-election efforts back home and decided to take on the speaker.
Another House Republican, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations, said many GOP colleagues on the floor became immediately irritated.
“We were all really angry, frustrated and saying, ‘Why now?’ We need to focus on the Iran deal,” the member said. “This is the best thing that could happen to President Obama. He just took the focus off Iran.”
This member maintained that Meadows designed his plan to keep the issue out front of voters over the long August recess so that conservative radio and outside advocacy groups could whip up opposition to Boehner.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-North Carolina, a vocal critic of Boehner’s, had not heard about Meadows’ plans, but backed the effort.
“I hope the talk show hosts who are so frustrated will pick up on this thing and beat the drums so loud that other members can be encouraged to join this effort, to change the leadership of the House,” Jones said.
Allies of the speaker said the effort didn’t pose a major threat, but they were clearly angry.
“We’re fighting the President on his overreach, and we’re dealing with the issues that are extremely important to the people who believe in our brand,” Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack told CNN. “And for us — here on the eve of breaking for the August recess — to go home and have our members have to discuss and explain the speakership … takes the collective attention away from the real issues at hand.”
Meadows sat in the back of the chamber after votes on Tuesday night and had a lengthy conversation with Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, who Meadows admitted was trying to talk him out of his effort.
After Meadows emerged, he explained the purpose of the resolution was to start “a family discussion” and an effort to force his leadership to listen to members from across the political spectrum.
“It’s not issue driven as much as it is process driven,” Meadows said.
Meadows maintained he’s never raised any money off of his clashes with Boehner and said he realized there could be political repercussions for his effort.
Last month, House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz stripped Meadows of his gavel as a subcommittee chairman. That move was viewed as public retribution for Meadow’s vote against re-electing Boehner in January and blowback erupted from conservative quarters of the GOP conference. 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.
It’s unclear how much support Meadows has to force a leadership shakeup. His lack of an organized plan already raises doubts about how effective the campaign can be.
Leaders could decide to bring the resolution up and quickly move to table it as early as Wednesday to try to move past the dust up and get the issue out of the way before members go back to their districts for the break.
House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said Boehner will “be OK.”
Womack also predicted the move wouldn’t gain traction, just as the effort to elect another speaker in January didn’t pan out for Boehner opponents.
“It’s extremely frustrating given the many important issues facing our country right now, we’re going to have a sideshow on an issue that was settled several months ago,” Womack said.
Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, a longtime critic of Boehner’s, told reporters on Tuesday he was still reviewing the resolution. But he said his constituents aren’t happy about the current leadership of Congress and brushed off the notion that the internal squabble would divert attention from other items like the Iran nuclear deal.
“Republicans aren’t fighting amongst themselves. Republicans back home are pretty clear. When I’m back home, Republicans are very supportive of my efforts and other efforts here. They are not happy about the direction that our conference is taking,” Amash said.
Tuesday marked Meadow’s 56th birthday and he said he ran the decision to challenge Boehner by “several friends” in the House and his wife and children.
“I don’t like being in the limelight. It is fearful whenever you do doing something like this,” he said.