Boebert says McCarthy ‘not going to get there’ in fiery nomination speech on House floor
Juliegrace Brufke
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Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) insisted that House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will not get the votes to become speaker and said Republicans need to rally around someone who will unify the conference while nominating Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-OK) for the position on the floor.
In a fiery speech, the Colorado Republican noted that multiple members have indicated that McCarthy is “not going to get there” as they barrel toward additional ballots, with McCarthy continuing to fall short of the 218 votes needed to get him over the finish line.
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“I sat in my chair anticipating to vote for Byron Donalds, whom I respect, whom I see as a leader, and there was a gut check that said we need someone that is going to convince my colleagues on this side of the aisle that it’s time to get going, it’s time to build momentum,” Boebert said.
The representative added that McCarthy “is not going to get there.”
“The colleagues that I brought with me to offer those 218 votes on the first ballot aren’t there anymore. It is not happening. We need to get to a point where we start evaluating what life after Kevin McCarthy looks like.”
The Colorado Republican went on to accuse McCarthy of not being a conservative and blasted allies threatening to take away defectors’ committee positions.
“Kevin likes to say he’s a conservative, but he’s not. We can have a happy warrior leading us. I understand that threats have been made about committee assignments, that you won’t receive committee assignments if you do not vote for Kevin McCarthy. That is true — it happened in conference and that is exactly what we were told. But we don’t govern in fear,” she said.
Boebert added that “we govern for the people, on principle,” and those voting should not “be afraid to do the right thing.”
“I believe that Kevin Hern is a unifier. He just received the chairman of the Republican Study Committee by unanimous consent — this is the largest caucus in our conference. Look how many people have already put their trust in Kevin Hern to lead them. I get asked by my constituents, where does this go? Who can unify the party? Who can deliver results? Rep. Kevin Hern can do just that.”
Boebert applauded the process, arguing that the debate and negotiations are beneficial and dismissed the widely held notion that it is chaotic.
“I know what chaos and dysfunction looks like. This is actually really a beautiful thing to be here with all of my colleagues debating just as the gentleman from Montana said, we have not experienced this in the two years that we have served here in Washington, D.C. This is the most debate that has taken place, and I love it,” she continued.
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“I love the conversations, love the conversations that are going on the floor, in the cloakroom, in the halls. There’s nothing extreme, there’s nothing unreasonable. We are trying to get this right. As my conservative colleagues and I have stated time and time again, Congress is broken and fundamentally needs change,” she said.