Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said he thought House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) might be at risk of losing his leadership role because of the battle over immigration.
During an appearance on Fox News Thursday with Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), host Sean Hannity asked if either Gohmert or King would consider challenging Boehner's speakership if he chooses to push a controversial immigration bill through the House.
"Gee, Sean, I don't know. Oh yeah, that's right -- I nominated Newt Gingrich in November and voted for Allen West in January," Gohmert said, citing two recent incidents where he chose not to get behind Boehner as Speaker. “I would consider something like that."
HuffPost's Elise Foley reported earlier on the tight spot Boehner is in over immigration:
So far, Boehner has promised not to push immigration reform without the support of House Republicans -- citing deference to the so-called Hastert rule, which says a majority of the majority party must support a measure for it to be brought to the floor. But the Ohio Republican is also under heavy pressure from his party's leadership to pass something of significance, or risk setting the GOP back another generation with Hispanic voters.
"You can clearly see the same dynamic at play on immigration if we are constrained by the Hastert rule in that Boehner will be balancing often times diametrically opposed points of view and using the inexact science of whip counting to find the sweet spot that gives you at least 50.1 percent of the [Republicans] and simultaneously breaks 218 to pass," a Democratic aide wrote of the farm bill failure in an email, requesting anonymity to speak candidly. "No wonder he smokes."
President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass immigration reform in his weekly address on Saturday, saying "the time for excuses is over."
"This bipartisan, common-sense bill will help the middle class grow our economy and shrink our deficits, by making sure that every worker in America plays by the same set of rules and pays taxes like everyone else," Obama said.
Before You Go
