Conservatives are, once again, trying to wrest the gavel from Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and members of the Florida delegation could play a major role in this latest coup attempt.
U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., launched a proposal to vacate the chair on Tuesday, insisting his effort was nothing personal. Meadows noted that Republicans who had bucked Boehner had faced paybacks from leadership. After he broke with the leadership on a trade vote last month, Meadows had been targeted by leadership which tried to strip him of the chairmanship of the U.S. House Government Operations Subcommittee.
Meadows denied that his move against Boehner was personal.
“What I’m hopeful for is this provides the impetus to have a discussion, a family discussion, where we can start talking about how we can make sure that every voice, every vote matters and really about representing the American people,” Meadows told the media on Tuesday night. “I want to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.”
Meadows has a tough road to hoe and a motion to vacate the chair hasn’t emerged on the House floor for more than a century. Boehner’s allies are sounding confident they can fend off this latest challenge. Democrats are also showing no signs of wanting to help conservatives oust the speaker.
Conservatives tried to deny Boehner the gavel in January but came up short. Out of the 25 Republicans in Congress who opposed keeping Boehner in charge, five of them are from Florida -- U.S. Reps. Curt Clawson, Rich Nugent, Bill Posey, Dan Webster and Ted Yoho. Webster garnered 12 votes for speaker while two members voted for Yoho against Boehner. But, later in January, Boehner struck back, removing Nugent and Webster from the Rules Committee which, with its role in shepherding legislation through the House, is one of the most powerful bodies in Congress.
Webster, who served as speaker of the Florida House and as majority leader of the Florida Senate, could get another shot at Boehner. When asked about who he would want to replace Boehner, Meadows dropped Webster’s name along with five other members of Congress including U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
