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September 17, 2015 02:27 PM UTC

Code Orange: Will Colorado Delegation Back Boehner as Speaker?

  • 22 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Sad John Boehner
Sad John Boehner

Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner is facing a critical time in his fifth year as Speaker of the House, and there are persistent rumors out of Washington D.C. that the right-wing of the Republican Party has had their fill of his Orangeness. As Politico reports today, the constant speculation about Boehner’s political future may be exacting a heavy toll on Congressional Republicans:

The only two viable potential replacements for John Boehner as speaker of the House say they back the Ohio Republican and will oppose any effort to remove him from power. But other high-ranking Republicans are testing the waters should the embattled speaker be forced out.

In a pair of statements to POLITICO, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) forcefully backed Boehner and called for an end to the intraparty warfare crippling the House Republican Conference as it faces a possible government shutdown on Oct. 1…

…Boehner’s tenuous hold on power, exacerbated by conservative demands to cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood, has set off some jockeying for position in the upper ranks of the House GOP hierarchy should he fall.

Several GOP lawmakers have approached McCarthy, majority leader since mid-2014, to discuss Boehner’s fate. The California Republican isn’t entertaining that talk or planning a run, but a number of other Republicans in leadership have started to formally test their own political viability inside the GOP conference in the event that Boehner is forced to give up his post.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Boehner has been rumored to be on the way out as Speaker, though the rumblings seem more persistent than ever. If disgruntled Republican lawmakers decide to file a motion to “vacate the chair,” Boehner’s fate could rest in the hands of Democrats. If such a motion is filed, Democrats could choose to stay out of the fight by voting “present,” at which point Boehner could hold onto his Speaker’s gavel with a simple majority of Republican votes. If every Republican House member casts a vote, Boehner would need 124 votes to remain Speaker.

Rep. Mike Coffman (R) could end up being a swing vote for the GOP caucus.
Rep. Mike Coffman (R) could end up being a swing vote for the GOP caucus.

If Boehner is indeed challenged as Speaker, how would Colorado’s Congressional delegation vote? We won’t try to guess as to what Democrats might decide, so we’re really talking about 4 votes: Reps. Scott Tipton, Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn, and Mike Coffman. 

Congressmen Ken Buck (Greeley) and Doug Lamborn (Colorado Springs) are not big Boehner fans, and both would likely vote for a new House Speaker if Boehner is challenged.

On the other side, Rep. Scott Tipton (Cortez) and Rep. Mike Coffman (Aurora) would likely support Boehner. Coffman’s decision is perhaps the most interesting to watch in this case; Coffman needs the GOP establishment to stand behind him in his own race for re-election in 2016, which is why he eagerly signed up for the controversial “Patriot Program” organized by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). However, Coffman has started to take public shots at Boehner over the scandal-ridden Aurora VA Hospital project, and there’s no guarantee that he would stick with Boehner if a strong GOP challenge was organized to take him down.

Republican leaders are well aware of the distraction of ongoing speculation about Boehner’s future, but right-wing leaders may not back down from their commitment to defunding Planned Parenthood — even if it leads to the second government shutdown in three years. Coffman has flipped and flopped on virtually ever major issue since he was first elected to Congress in 2008, so if he ends up as a targeted swing vote in an election for Speaker, all bets are off.

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22 thoughts on “Code Orange: Will Colorado Delegation Back Boehner as Speaker?”

  1. If Republicans cap off the current round of insanity by capping their own leadership, they'll have proven they do not deserve to govern.

    Proven again I mean.

  3. The Really Radical Right-wingers need to get a clue: they won't be deposing the establishment Republicans from within the party. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if Boehner slapped the rebels around a bit and took away some of their committee slots or leadership posts (assuming they have any). Boehner can either fight for the party he'd rather lead – and possibly lose a couple of these idiots to third party registration (oh, no!) – or he can cave (some more) and we can have another credit-rating debacle.

        1. There are 66 present and former members of the House TeaBilly Caucus, founded by Michele Bachmann.  Do you suppose it's just a coincidence that everything points to a '6', or…

          1. If Russ says keep Orangeman, Tipton will vote to keep the Orangeman.  If Gordy says, toss a West Slope town under the wheels, Scott will toss a West Slope town under the wheels.  He may not be the brightest 30-W bulb in the box, but he knows who oils up his bread.  

  4. He should actually be in better shape now than 2 years ago because in Nov. '14, a lot of the GOP pickup seats were in northeast and midwest states that are not tea country.

  6. Because if you can't find a trinket salesman to buy for Congress, what good is all that cash? Natives in the Colony of Colorado often are unaware of what is best for them, which is what is best for Scott, which is what is best for Gordy.  It is a simple relationship, really.  Scott sells out the citizens, and everyone benefits.  Except the citizens. 

  7. http://littlesis.org/person/132995/Russell_T_Gordy

    Russell T Gordy

    Edited by System about 1 year ago  

    add relationship edit flag   

     

     

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    Ted Cruz   Republican U.S. Senator from Texas

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    Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee

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    Jon Tester   US Senator from Montana

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