On Tuesday, an eleventh-hour motion was offered by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) to officially “vacate the chair”, which if passed would remove from Speaker John Boehner the power of the gavel.
The motion came as a surprise to the entire House just as the calendar came to a close ahead of the summer recess when members leave for district meetings.
Meadows insisted the move was not a cheap political stunt, as some of his colleagues suggested, but rather a shot across the bow in hopes that House leadership will see the need for a serious ‘family meeting’.
Meadows was joined by other staunch conservative in the GOP caucus arguing that Boehner’s style of leadership represents a consolidation of power designed to silence opponents and reward those who tow the line for the Speaker’s agenda.
