(transitive,idiomatic) To promote (an employee considered troublesome) to a position of lesser influence, but of apparently higher status.
2012, The Economist, Sep 29th 2012 issue, Special Report, India: Aim Higher
Faced with slowing foreign investment and a revenue squeeze, Pranab Mukherjee, until recently the finance minister, bizarrely attacked foreign investors, such as Vodafone, and retrospectively tried to rewrite tax rules. That spread uncertainty. Fortunately in July he was booted upstairs to become president.