“The right-wing Marxist have teamed up with Pelosi. They’re the ones who always team up with Pelosi. They are the Pelosi Republicans,” an infuriated Nunes said in an interview. “The Freedom Caucus is an arm of Pelosi.”

But the reality is that Boehner may need to rely on Pelosi in some capacity if conservatives do bring forward a motion to “vacate” the Speaker’s chair — a procedural move to effectively boot Boehner out of power.

Pelosi is playing coy about how Democrats might respond to such a motion. All 188 Democrats could team up with roughly 30 Freedom Caucus members to overthrow Boehner and send the House into chaos. But that alliance seems unlikely since Democrats are worried about the prospects of a Tea Party Speaker who could emerge from the dust.

A handful of Democrats already went on record this year saying they would vote to save Boehner, preferring to stick with the devil they know. And other Democrats told CNN this week they were inclined to ride to Boehner’s rescue, even as Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) warned that Boehner shouldn’t count on Democrats to bail him out.