This post has been updated.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Sunday said that he would challenge House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for the top spot in House GOP leadership.
“We have heard from a lot of Republicans that said, ‘I would vote for somebody besides speaker Boehner.’ But nobody will put their name out there,” Gohmert said on “Fox and Friends.” “That changed yesterday with Ted Yoho.”
According to Gohmert, the voters made it clear in 2014 that they want leadership changes.
“There have been numerous examples of problematic Republican leadership, but we were hopeful our leaders got the voters’ message,” he said. “However, after our speaker forced through the CRomnibus by passing it with Democratic votes and without time to read it, it seemed clear that we needed new leadership. There had been much discussion.”
Later on Sunday, Gohmert issued a statement announcing his intention to run for speaker and explaining that he was inspired to run when his colleague Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) decided to run for speaker.
Gohmert assured that a crowded GOP field for speaker would not hurt the Republican party.
“There is false information being floated that any Republican candidates in addition to the current Speaker will split the vote and give the Speaker’s gavel to Congresswoman Pelosi. This is nothing but a scare tactic to keep the current regime in power,” he said in the statement. “As long as Republicans vote for an adult American citizen for Speaker, no Democrat can win.”
“At this point, the Speaker’s election is not about a particular candidate. It is about whether we keep the status quo or make the change the country demands. I am putting forward my name for consideration as Speaker and hope that with a new Speaker, be that me or someone else, we can fight for the ideals and principles that the voters wanted when they elected us in November,” Gohmert concluded.
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) on Monday said that he would not vote to reelect Boehner as speaker, but he did not specify whether he would vote for Gohmert or Yoho.
“I am convinced Congress will not be allowed to restore its Constitutional authority under his Speakership and by refusing to do so, cannot call upon the courts to do so. How then, can I take an oath to the Constitution and put up a vote for John Boehner, almost in the same breath?” King wrote about Boehner in an op-ed for Breitbart. “We need a Speaker who will help us all keep our oath, including his own, to the Constitution, not one who has consistently blocked our efforts to keep ours.”
