February 06, 2024 10:42 AM UTC

Boebert's Got Mike Johnson By The Short Hairs

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the partisan standoff continues in Washington over legislation in the U.S. Senate that would address the surge of migrants arriving on the Southern U.S. border as well as provide needed funding to support Ukraine and Israel in their respective conflicts. As we’ve discussed previously, Republicans are under intense pressure from Donald Trump to refuse any solution to the border crisis in order to keep the issue alive in the upcoming presidential election. This cynical strategy of allowing a crisis they decry every day to fester for political gain is politically very risky for Republicans, since outside their most ardent core of supporters it looks incredibly irresponsible.

At the heart of this standoff today is GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who after emerging from the ashes of his predecessor Kevin McCarthy’s short tenure proceeded to burn his political capital inside the GOP caucus by defusing the next looming fiscal crisis instead of forcing the chaos that only Trump wants. There’s every reason to believe that were it not for Trump breathing down his neck, Johnson would be willing to engage the Senate on a bipartisan border bill addressing what everybody agrees is a problem.

But as MAGA dead-ender Rep. Lauren Boebert made clear last week, the far right’s honeymoon with Johnson is over, and Boebert is ready to send her very recently fast friend packing if he chooses the country over Trump again. As The Hill reported last Friday:

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) jabbed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) amid mounting conservative criticism over his negotiations with Democrats on spending measures.

“I don’t want to get there, but we need leadership,” [Pols emphasis] Boebert said during an appearance Thursday on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast. “We have to have some follow-through on the promises that we have made to the American people.”

…Bannon, an influential voice among conservatives loyal to former President Trump, suggested earlier this week that Johnson is “not savable” and is not doing enough to achieve the priorities of conservatives.

“It’s not worth it,” the former Trump adviser said. “It’s time to look for the next man up because this is gonna continue.”

It’s been barely a month since Johnson delivered his glowing endorsement of Boebert for re-election, just days after Boebert switched from running in the Third District against nemesis Adam Frisch to a much less certain shot in a crowded primary at retiring Rep. Ken Buck’s safer Eastern Plains seat. A straw poll of attendees at a recent debate in which Boebert placed fifth has been widely cited to suggest that Boebert has made yet another career-ending mistake by carpetbagging districts, but Johnson’s endorsement and Boebert’s declining but still potent fundraising prowess are the factors operating in Boebert’s favor.

It’s hard to imagine Johnson’s endorsement surviving Boebert filing a motion to vacate, but that’s the next step.