Rep Lauren Boebert called the battle to prevent Kevin McCarthy from becoming Speaker of the House her “most productive, effective week” in Congress.
Ms Boebert said in an appearance on KRDO radio this week: “This took a few extra days to get the Speaker in place, but I think it was absolutely worth it. It may have looked messy from home, but being a mom of four boys, chaos and disfunction have been part of my life for quite some time — and I can look back at last week and say that was the most productive, effective week I’ve had in Congress in the last two years.”
She went on to say that the Republicans were prepared to deliver Mr McCarthy the 218 votes required to win the speakership on Monday of last week, but that Mr McCarthy at that point was refusing to make concessions to the segment of far right Republicans who were skeptical of his bid.
“For years, leadership in both parties have worked to consolidate power at the top — and this last week we broke the trend and returned much of Congress’ power back to the individual members,” Ms Boebert said. “Even CNN was saying, ‘The Democrats like it.’”
Ms Boebert isn’t the only Republican member of the House spinning last week’s chaotic series of Speaker votes as a victory for the democratic process and the country as a whole.
Rep Jim Jordan of Ohio, for one, claimed in an appearance on Fox News Sunday that a physical altercation on the House floor between Reps Mike Rogers and Matt Gaetz was evidence of democracy in action.
“Sometimes democracy is messy, but I would argue that’s how the founders intended it,” Mr Jordan said.
In the fifteenth ballot last week, Mr McCarthy did finally achieve his ambition in being elected Speaker. This was the first time since 1923 that the Speaker had not been elected on the first ballot and first time since 1859 — the eve of the Civil War — that the Speaker had not been elected on the first nine ballots.
Mr McCarthy did ultimately prevail, but, as Ms Boebert trumpeted, he had to make key concessions to members of the far right Freedom Caucus to secure the necessary votes — concessions that could help shape the operation of the new Congress.
The votes took place amid remarkable shows of Republican disunity and, in some cases, acrimony on the floor of the House as members clashed over the direction of the party and their fealty to Mr McCarthy.
In her interview with KRDO, Ms Boebert expressed optimism about the new House rules package that Mr McCarthy is trying to pass in one of his first acts as Speaker.
At the conclusion of the interview, KRDO interviewer reminded Ms Boebert of a pledge to “tone down the rhetoric” and negotiate and work for her district after nearly losing her re-election bid in a stunning upset to Democrat Adam Frisch and ultimately prevailing by less than 1,000 votes.
“I think you are seeing that in action,” Ms Boebert said.
