Boebert says she won’t support McCarthy unless there’s a check in place to remove speaker
Ryan King
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Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is predicating the prospect of her backing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for speaker on the establishment of a check and balance system on the speakership.
Refraining from outright opposing him, the Republican firebrand stressed that no agreement had been reached for a mechanism to easily remove McCarthy as speaker down the line but kept her options open during an interview Monday with Real America’s Voice at a Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix.
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“We have to have accountability here, and without that, Kevin McCarthy’s not speaker. There has been no agreements made on that, and how can we believe anything else moving forward? So maybe things will change on Jan. 3,” she said.
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Boebert made her remarks standing next to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a fellow member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, who has been one of the most vehement House Republicans opposed to a McCarthy speakership. Gaetz reiterated his opposition, despite former President Donald Trump backing McCarthy, stressing he would back Trump in 2024 but “will not follow him” on McCarthy.
“President Trump should take a look at what is being said in the House of Representatives right now,” Boebert added.
Boebert barely crossed the finish line in her reelection race against Democrat Adam Frisch during the midterm elections. Afterward, she argued the GOP needs to show more “discipline and targeted focus” on policy rather than partisan flamethrowing.
She has also previously been noncommittal about whether she would support McCarthy, who has appear to be staring down nearly half a dozen possible defections already. Traditionally, one needs to clinch 218 votes to become speaker, though that threshold can shrink if members of Congress choose to vote “present.” Republicans will have 222 House seats to the Democrats’ 213 in the new Congress.
At least one MAGA acolyte, who has been friendly with Gaetz, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), has backed McCarthy, warning her party not to gamble with the speakership given the GOP’s razor-thin margins in the House. When asked about Greene saying McCarthy will be a “great speaker,” Boebert took a shot at her colleague.
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“I’ve been aligned with Marjorie and accused of believing a lot of the things that she believes in. I don’t believe in this just like I don’t believe in … Jewish space lasers,” she quipped.
At one point, Boebert and Greene reportedly nearly got into a physical confrontation during a heated exchange over Greene attending an event hosted by far-right Nicholas Fuentes.
McCarthy has secured the House GOP votes for the nod to be speaker, but he must win a majority in a full floor vote in January in order to win the gavel.