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Boehner detractors likely to add drama to House speaker vote Boehner detractors are likely to add some GOP drama to House speaker vote
(about 4 hours later)
House Speaker John A. Boehner faced a growing mutiny Monday from rank-and-file conservatives bent on dislodging him from the chamber’s top job, presenting House Republican leaders with a familiar complication on the eve of swearing in the party’s largest majority in decades. Decisive midterm election victories in November put Republicans in a powerful position to move their own legislative agenda this year, but as the new Congress convenes Tuesday there are early signs of trouble in the House for the GOP’s expanded majority.
Although the revolt led by frequent Boehner critics is unlikely to prevent the Ohio Republican from winning a third term as speaker, it could add drama to Tuesday’s vote. It also was a reminder of the lingering discord House Republican leaders are confronting at a crucial moment, even after a banner midterm election in which they padded their majority. House Republicans are facing some of the same divisions that have hobbled their efforts to govern over the past four years, particularly on fiscal matters.
That has put Boehner and his lieutenants in a better position to contain the rancor than in past years. The speaker’s popularity was bolstered by the wins and many of his colleagues consider his gruff-but-friendly personality endearing. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is again the central figure in a now-familiar drama as he faces a revolt from rank-and-file GOP conservatives who want to deprive him of a third term as speaker. While the mutiny seemed unlikely to succeed, it could inject some turmoil into the leadership vote Tuesday and is a reminder of the lingering discord that threatens to blunt Republican efforts to govern.
Nevertheless, by Monday afternoon, at least nine current and soon-to-be Republican members said they would vote against Boehner. Two of them, Reps. Louie Gohmert (Tex.) and Ted Yoho (Fla.), offered themselves as replacements. “We’re on probation, quite frankly,” said Rep Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), who told reporters that Republicans must not overplay their post-election hand and become mired in intraparty squabbles. “We’ve got to perform for the next two years. . . . There is an expectation for us to do a lot of work, and I’m ready to get started.”
Neither has broad popularity in the House. Although Gohmert frequently appears on Fox News Channel, he is not a major player in legislative matters. Yoho and most of the others mentioned have a similar political standing: vocal but backbenchers. GOP leaders have said that their top priority is to put the disunity of the past four years behind them and demonstrate to the average American that they can govern without shutting down the government or watching the party rip itself apart. Some of the GOP’s top legislative goals — passing a budget the president can sign, replenishing the highway trust fund and overhauling the federal tax code — could present severe tests for Boehner, who has seen conservative anger derail his plans in the past.
Boehner’s allies were confident that he would retain his gavel and sent one another text messages Monday as news broke about the speaker’s latest defectors. While House Republicans’ 13-seat net midterm gain has put Boehner and his lieutenants in a stronger position to contain the rancor than in past years, there was a sense of deja vu over the Capitol on Monday, with at least 11 Republicans — current and soon-to-be members — lining up against Boehner. Two of them, Reps. Louie Gohmert (Tex.) and Ted Yoho (Fla.), offered themselves as replacements. Both voted against Boehner for speaker in 2013.
“There are always malcontents,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a Boehner supporter, said in an interview. “If you go against your own colleagues by opposing the speaker on the floor, you will embarrass House Republicans and disrupt our team. It’d be unforgivable political behavior.” House GOP offices reported thousands of calls in relation to the speaker vote, with several of them reporting an average of 100 to 200 negative ones regarding Boehner on Monday alone.
Still, the flurry of activity came at an unfortunate time for the speaker. Rather than once again managing the internal fights that have plagued the GOP since the 2010 tea-party-wave election, leaders had hoped to turn their attention to policy and striking a new tone ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Monday afternoon in the Rayburn House Office Building, a clutch of younger aides was spotted speaking nervously about Boehner’s chances; a few yards away, Gohmert’s office fielded media requests as its phones rang.
Instead, they were dealing with a troublesome backlash against the agenda they spearheaded in the previous Congress. Boehner’s allies expressed confidence that he would retain his gavel and sent one another text messages Monday as news broke about the speaker’s latest defectors. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in an e-mail that the speaker expects to be reelected.
In statements announcing their opposition to Boehner, many of the speaker’s critics took issue with the $1.1 trillion spending bill that passed the House with the support of most Republicans and some Democrats in December. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a Boehner supporter, said in an interview that “there are always malcontents.” He added: “If you go against your own colleagues by opposing the speaker on the floor, you will embarrass House Republicans and disrupt our team. It’d be unforgivable political behavior.”
Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), who was rounding up members to try to defeat Boehner and predicted Monday that opponents would number in the double digits, said the bill “blocked our newest elected Republicans from advancing conservative policy and delivering on campaign promises.” Rep. Marlin A. Stutzman (R-Ind.) said Boehner’s opponents would dine together Monday night to go over their floor plan for Tuesday, mapping out who could possibly join them at the eleventh hour.
When the 114th Congress convenes for the first time Tuesday, 246 Republicans and 188 Democrats will be sworn into the House. A candidate for speaker must win a majority to clinch the job. “What I see is noise,” said former speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who visited with Boehner on Monday and dismissed any suggestion that he is in danger of losing his job.
Depending on who is present for the vote, that composition means that 29 Republicans probably would have to vote against Boehner to stop him. If Boehner didn’t have the necessary number of votes on the first round of balloting, a second round would be held. Democrats watching from the sidelines marveled at yet more leadership strife for Boehner, despite his larger majority.
If that happened, House Republicans probably would move to a closed-door session to figure out the party’s next step before returning for a second vote. “Our Republican colleagues are going to have a tough week as they start sweeping things under the rug,” said Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
In 2013, Boehner was pushed toward that outcome when a dozen Republicans defected or did not vote and he narrowly averted having to face a second ballot. As tensions grew, Boehner opponents grew optimistic and felt the tide was turning in their direction, all while acknowledging the difficulties ahead. “There are a lot of members, more than a sufficient number, to pull this off,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who plans to vote against Boehner. “The only thing in our way is fear, fear by those who are worried about the repercussions of voting no. We’re doing everything we can to calm those fears.”
Gohmert, Yoho and Bridenstine were among those who voted against Boehner last time. So were Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Walter B. Jones (N.C.), who oppose the speaker now. Massie, a libertarian, estimated that upwards of 40 Republicans are quietly open to opposing Boehner but would do so only if the leadership’s coalition began to crack on the floor.
There was little evidence late Monday that their dissatisfaction would snowball into a widespread rally against Boehner ahead of Tuesday’s vote and jeopardize the speaker’s job. But there was little evidence that the fringe contingent’s efforts would snowball into a widespread movement against Boehner. Neither Yoho nor Gohmert has broad sway in the House. Gohmert is a fixture on Fox News Channel but is not a major player in legislative matters. Yoho and most of the other possible challengers have a similar political standing: vocal, but backbenchers.
Although the Boehner vote was bantered about on conservative talk-radio shows Monday, perhaps the most prominent of the right’s radio stars, Rush Limbaugh, did not take the opportunity to tout the brewing and scattered revolt as a national cause for activists. “What they’ve got is some grievances but no candidate,” said former congressman Bob Walker (R-Pa.), who added that the new majority is big enough to accommodate this latest bout of dissent. “You can afford to lose a lot more people when you have 246 seats than you can with a much smaller majority.”
In a monologue that surprised some congressional Republicans, Limbaugh called Gohmert “our buddy” but did not predict that the congressman from Texas, or other Boehner challengers, would succeed, and recalled his disappointment with Republicans who “caved” two years ago when the speaker vote was called. Still, the flurry of opposition Monday came at an unfortunate time for Boehner. Rather than again managing the internal fights that have plagued the GOP since the 2010 tea party wave election, leaders had hoped to turn their attention to policy, striking a new tone ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Instead, they were dealing with a backlash against legislation they spearheaded in the previous Congress.
“It’s all about getting rid of Boehner as speaker, which a majority of Republicans outside Washington want to do,” Limbaugh said. “It’s not the first time, and every effort that has been made prior to this has failed. They say they’ve got 25 out of 29 votes to at least veto Boehner, if not elect somebody in his place. But they had that before and it fell apart. It caved at the moment of truth.” In statements announcing their opposition to Boehner, most of the speaker’s critics took issue with the $1.1 trillion spending bill that passed the House in December with the support of most Republicans and some Democrats, arguing it did not do enough to curb President Obama’s use of executive authority.
House leadership aides have played down the grumblings of some of Boehner’s longtime foes but they privately acknowledge that the spotlight on Tuesday’s vote could create an unpredictable atmosphere in which, under the glare of reporters in the press gallery and C-SPAN cameras, some House Republicans change their vote and join the anti-Boehner crowd. “I was really disappointed” by the spending bill, said Rep.-elect Dave Brat (R-Va.) “We could have addressed immigration and we did not. We did provide the president with the funds he wanted. . . . I like Speaker Boehner. He’s a good man. But the problems demand new leadership.”
At a regular meeting of conservative House Republican aides Monday, there was little to no discussion of efforts against Boehner, with more talk about the recent holidays and vacation adventures. When the new Congress convenes Tuesday, 246 Republicans and 188 Democrats will be sworn into the House. A candidate for speaker must win a majority to clinch the job.
There were updates on bills scheduled to come to the floor and events. Paul Teller, the chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), was present. But political intrigue, at least in that setting, was kept to a minimum, said several attendees who were not authorized to discuss the gathering. It wasn’t clear how many members would show up to the vote Tuesday, but Boehner probably cannot afford to lose more than about 28 Republicans.
The speaker vote, which was held by a voice roll call, also can take more than an hour to complete — a length of time that makes Boehner’s supporters uneasy. Informal lieutenants for the speaker will be spread throughout the chamber, ready to counsel on-the-fence Republicans, aides said. Boehner made a series of personal calls Monday to ask his colleagues for their support. A Boehner aide said the speaker has been reaching out to members for weeks. But several Republicans said the calls began to intensify over the weekend as the speaker’s associates have become skittish. Both the aide and the members spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss private conversations.
Former House majority leader Eric Cantor, a Virginia Republican, weighed in Monday, writing in a CNBC.com op-ed that the party should focus on governing in the coming months. If Boehner does not have the necessary number of votes on the first round of balloting, a second round will be held.
“Rather than accepting the reality of divided government and focusing on what can be accomplished today to create more long-term growth and opportunity, both sides focus on short-term tactics designed to exacerbate differences in hopes of gaining advantage for the next election,” wrote Cantor, who now works at an investment firm after a stunning 2014 primary defeat. Under that scenario, House Republicans would probably move to a closed-door session to figure out the party’s next step before returning for a second vote.
Cantor, once Boehner’s deputy, lost to college professor Dave Brat, who is among the handful of Republicans who oppose Boehner as speaker. In 2013, Boehner was pushed toward that outcome when a dozen Republicans defected or did not vote, but he narrowly averted a second ballot.
“Washington is broken in part because our party’s leadership has strayed from its own principles of free market, limited government, constitutional conservatism. We are at a crucial turning point in our country’s history — do we truly want free markets, or does cronyism remain in place?” Brat wrote in a Breitbart.com op-ed published Sunday. House leadership aides have played down the grumblings of some of Boehner’s adversaries. But they privately acknowledged that the spotlight on Tuesday’s vote could create an unpredictable atmosphere, with the public glare and the television cameras potentially prompting some House Republicans to change their votes and join the anti-Boehner crowd.
At a regular meeting of conservative House Republican aides Monday, there was little to no discussion of efforts against Boehner, with more of the talk directed at the recent holidays and vacation adventures.
There were updates on bills scheduled to come to the floor and events. Paul Teller, the chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), one of the chief agitators against Boehner in the past, was present, but the political intrigue was kept to a minimum, said several attendees who were not authorized to discuss the event.
The speaker vote is held by a voice roll call and can take more than an hour — a length of time that makes Boehner’s supporters uneasy. Boosters for the speaker will be throughout the chamber, ready to counsel on-the-fence Republicans, aides said.
Ed O’Keefe and Paul Kane contributed to this report.