Politics- The firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert is flirting with the idea of ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson.
- She said on Steve Bannon's podcast she didn't "want to get there, but we need leadership."
Nearly four months after GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was booted from his leadership role, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert suggested the caucus may need to do the same to Mike Johnson, McCarthy's replacement.
Appearing on the far-right provocateur Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast on Thursday, Boebert said she had a major hand in adjusting the House rule book in January 2023 to require just one person 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 had suggested using that "lever of accountability" against the current speaker if the House continued 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 filed a motion to vacate Johnson from leadership, and he's successfully ousted in a House vote, it would be both the second such occurrence in the past six months and the second removal of a speaker in US history.
Boebert's criticism of the Republican House speaker comes just weeks after she publicly touted his endorsement of 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."