March 31, 2025 03:38 PM UTC

Minority Leader Pugliese's Got To Keep 'Em Separated

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland reports, a red-on-red “personality conflict” originating with one of the Colorado House Republican minority’s biggest…personalities is hampering the work of a key House committee, as a freshman Republican who is supposed to be serving on the House Health and Human Services Committee has been repeatedly substituted to appease the committee’s ranking Republican Rep. Brandi “Boxwine” Bradley:

For the last three weeks, six hearings in total, the Colorado House Health and Human Services Committee has been missing one of its newest members: freshman Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of Fort Morgan.

House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese is in charge of Republican House committee assignments. She told CPR News she made the switch because of the relationship between Johnson and Republican Rep. Brandi Bradley, who is the committee’s ranking minority member. Pugliese also said she is responsible for ensuring the well-being of her caucus.

“There are some personality differences between members of the committee and I am giving them space right now. Rep Johnson has not been permanently replaced,” said Pugliese in a statement.

The problem for stakeholders on all sides of legislation run through this committee is pretty simple:

[C]hanging out a committee member, especially on an ongoing basis, can have significant consequences at the Capitol, both for that lawmaker’s work, the committee’s votes, and the ability of lobbyists and interest groups to advocate for their bills.

Second-term Rep. Brandi Bradley has a reputation for being one of the most bellicose culture warriors in the Republican 22-seat mini-minority, from channeling death threats against other members to “doxxing” witnesses for bills she doesn’t like. But Rep. Bradley has also proven ready and willing to lob “friendly fire” attacks on fellow Republicans she considers insufficiently committed to the wedge issue of the week. The exact nature of Bradley’s beef with Dusty Johnson isn’t spelled out in today’s story, with several possible bills being the unworkable bone of contention betwixt them. But the sum of their disputed disputables in Rep. Bradley’s view is clear enough:

Bradley said of Johnson, “she wouldn’t know how to spell liberty and freedom if she had a cue card in front of her.” [Pols emphasis]

Pious though she may be, Rep. Bradley clearly never read the Eleventh Commandment. As one of ex-party chairman Dave Williams’ closest allies, we don’t see Bradley becoming any easier to work with in the future either–across or within her own aisle.

Rep. Bradley is what you get when a constructive outcome, internally or across the aisle, is no longer the priority.