Conservative Republicans attempt another effort to oust House Speaker John Boehner

“It took a lot of us by surprise”, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., a conservative who lost his position on the whip team for voting against a trade bill, said of the Meadows resolution.

“We were all really raging, frustrated and saying, ‘Why now?’ We need to focus on the Iran deal”, the member said.

Meadows’ move will undoubtedly force Republican lawmakers over the recess to answer questions about Boehner’s political problems, and possibly shift attention away from their opposition to the Iran nuclear deal and other priorities. Walberg serves as vice chairman of Meadows’s Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee and considers Meadows a friend. “The answer is yes – that’s the speaker’s prerogative”, he said. When I’m back home, Republicans are very supportive of my efforts and other efforts here. “I don’t doubt that Mark may have been trying to follow the dictates of his conscience”. If the House Freedom Caucus, the group of conservative members, was behind the petition you would be sure its leader, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, would be out in front of the petition.

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.

“There’s another important energy issue that would provide a big boost to our economy, and that is lifting the ban on exporting crude oil”, Boehner said. So, while the Democrats should vote to remove John Boehner, many will vote to keep him because they like what he’s doing.

A House Republican often at odds with John Boehner launched a bid Tuesday to kick the speaker of the house out of his job – an nearly unheard-of rebellion but one that has been simmering for months. Such a challenge has never succeeded in the House, and only once – 105 years ago – has it been attempted.

Meadows’ resolution was referred to the Rules Committee because it was not filed as a “privileged’ resolution”. “He’s showing the institutional corruption of John Boehner“. “You got a member here and a member there who are off the reservation”, said Boehner.

Asked if he’d spoken with Meadows, Boehner replied, “I have not”.

The resolution said Boehner, R-Ohio, “has endeavored to consolidate power and centralize decision-making, bypassing the majority of the 435 Members of Congress and the people they represent”. It’s clear that Meadows is working without backing from his colleagues.

Had Meadows chosen to be more confrontational, he could have used his privileges as a House member to push for an actual vote on whether to oust Boehner.

But Meadows and his motion has become an irritant to Boehner and his supporters, just as the House prepares to leave for a lengthy August recess without the Republican-controlled Congress agreeing on a long-term highway bill and other pressing issues.

“I haven’t raised money off of anything that has happened to me in this House”, he said.

“I think it’s really more about the American people who believe that Washington, D.C., is broken and it’s certainly about having inclusive debate and not just debate decided by a few people”, Meadows said in an interview Wednesday morning. If the motion were to pass – most Republicans say it will be hard to cobble together the votes – Boehner would be stripped of the speaker’s gavel, potentially plunging the House of Representatives into chaos.