U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert joined a handful of other hard-right Republican House lawmakers Tuesday morning in withholding support for GOP leader Kevin McCarthy becoming the next speaker, plunging the opening day of the 118th Congress into political paralysis.
The ultra-conservative congresswoman, who barely regained her seat to represent Colorado's sprawling 3rd Congressional District in November, posted a video Tuesday morning on Twitter in which she claimed that McCarthy, of California, jettisoned a deal that had been put on the table the day before by a conservative faction of House Republicans to garner their support for his ascension to speaker.
"I have been working every day to unify the Republican Party for the American people and yesterday we had a deal that was not a selfish deal in any way for Kevin McCarthy to get him the gavel on the first ballot and he eagerly dismissed us," Boebert told reporters Tuesday. "And now here we are — being sworn at instead of being sworn in."
McCarthy showed no signs of backing down Tuesday morning, pledging a "battle on the floor" if needed to overcome opposition from right-flank colleagues, according to the Associated Press.
The standoff means McCarthy, after having led his party to a narrow Republican majority, is grasping for his political survival — trying to avoid being the first majority nominee for speaker in 100 years to fail to win an initial vote for the gavel.
Republicans hold a slim 222-212 majority in the House, meaning that only a few hold-outs in the caucus can obstruct the speaker vote. One core demand from the detractors this time is that McCarthy reinstate a rule that allows any single lawmaker to make a "motion to vacate the chair" — in short, to call a vote to remove the speaker from office.
Requests for comment from the two other Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation — Rep. Ken Buck and Rep. Doug Lamborn — weren't immediately returned.
McCarthy said he would stay in the fight, even if it takes multiple tries in a public spectacle that would underscore divisions in his party and weaken its leadership in the first days of the new Congress.
"We may have a battle on the floor, but the battle is for the conference and the country," McCarthy said at the Capitol.
Meanwhile, Boebert on Tuesday celebrated the removal of metal detectors that had been installed at the entrance of the House chamber by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi two years ago. In her first few days in office, Boebert had received criticism from Washington, D.C. police for releasing a video appearing to show her walking the streets of the capital city with a loaded gun.
Standing in front of a metal detector as it was being rolled away, Boebert in a video posted to Twitter said she was happy to see what she called "this hunk of garbage" being removed.
"And we are turning Pelosi's house back into the people's house," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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