Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert are the shadow speakers of the house
But do they have the stones to use their power?
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This week, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert became the shadow Speakers of the House.
People think Kevin McCarthy won the role…and those people are wrong. He is Speaker in name only. Here’s why:
The holdouts on the Speaker vote were able to negotiate a number of concessions, the most important of which was that Kevin McCarthy can be removed as Speaker if just one member of the house calls for a motion to vacate.
If that happens, McCarthy will need to win a majority of votes in order to remain as Speaker. And, as we saw this past week, he doesn’t have those votes.
There are political consequences, however, to calling for a motion to vacate. And I think the only two people in the House who have the balls to do it are Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert.
So, the only question remains if they are willing to pull the trigger if Kevin McCarthy makes a misstep or goes back on his word.
If they are willing to call for a motion to vacate, then they hold all the power in the House, and Kevin McCarthy knows it. It doesn’t matter who officially holds the title of Speaker - they are in a position to make whatever demand they want and McCarthy will have to meet them or be fired from the role.
IF they are willing to pull the trigger.
If they are not willing to do so, than last week’s exercise was just a waste of time.
I think Lauren Boebert would do it. Lauren Bobert told Kevin McCarthy she was going to vote for him…and then changed her vote to “present” at the last moment without telling anyone, which is what led to the commotion and McCarthy losing the second-to-final vote, which he thought he had in the bag.
That takes balls of steel. She knew what she was doing.
I’m less sure about Matt Gaetz. I don’t know that he would want to suffer the political consequences of calling for a motion to remove the speaker from his own party. He’s too much of a politician, and I say that as someone who likes him. But he might do it if he needs to prove the point. I wouldn’t count him out.
It’s actually kind of brilliant. Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebart have all the power. They can get everything they want, and bear none of the public responsibility for this if they go south.
I hope they take advantage of it.
I think they both do. Sad that we basically have two out of 222. But at least we have that.
Was the motion to vacate definitely signed off on? I hear there is still wrangling about the deal. Seems like a bad idea for them to vote McCarthy in before having a deal inked.