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| Boehner survives leadership challenge from conservative members | Boehner survives leadership challenge from conservative members |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Republicans took full control of Congress Tuesday for the first time in eight years, and John A. Boehner was reelected as House speaker, after a group of hard-right conservatives tried and failed to deny him another term. | Republicans took full control of Congress Tuesday for the first time in eight years, and John A. Boehner was reelected as House speaker, after a group of hard-right conservatives tried and failed to deny him another term. |
| Boehner’s election provided the only drama on a day of ceremony and swearings-in on Capitol Hill. But, in the end, even that drama didn’t last very long. His adversaries need to turn 30-plus other Republicans against Boehner to prevent him from winning a majority on the first vote. | Boehner’s election provided the only drama on a day of ceremony and swearings-in on Capitol Hill. But, in the end, even that drama didn’t last very long. His adversaries need to turn 30-plus other Republicans against Boehner to prevent him from winning a majority on the first vote. |
| They got 25 — 24 votes for other candidates and and one simply voting present. As a clerk called 408 members one by one, those rebellious Republicans shouted out a variety of names: GOP House members, even two sitting senators. But the other Republicans all called out Boehner’s name, and that was enough. | |
| [Read live updates on the new congressional session.] | [Read live updates on the new congressional session.] |
| In the Senate, Mitch McConnnell (R-Ky.) became majority leader, as the GOP took that chamber for the first time since 2007. He welcomed new members but spoke only briefly: this was a day for receptions, not for legislation. | In the Senate, Mitch McConnnell (R-Ky.) became majority leader, as the GOP took that chamber for the first time since 2007. He welcomed new members but spoke only briefly: this was a day for receptions, not for legislation. |
| “Tomorrow it’s back to work. I yield the floor,” McConnell said. | “Tomorrow it’s back to work. I yield the floor,” McConnell said. |
| The man whose job McConnell took, Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), was absent from the Capitol, recuperating from an accident on a home-exercise machine that left him with a concussion and broken facial bones. He was installed as minority leader anyway. | The man whose job McConnell took, Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), was absent from the Capitol, recuperating from an accident on a home-exercise machine that left him with a concussion and broken facial bones. He was installed as minority leader anyway. |
| “Senator Reid is a former boxer. He’s tough. I know he’ll be back in fighting form very soon,” McConnell said of his longtime verbal sparring partner in the Senate. | “Senator Reid is a former boxer. He’s tough. I know he’ll be back in fighting form very soon,” McConnell said of his longtime verbal sparring partner in the Senate. |
| In the House, the group that had plotted a coup against Boehner had little hope of electing another Republican in the first round of voting. But they still hoped to humiliate him by splintering the votes so that no one won. | In the House, the group that had plotted a coup against Boehner had little hope of electing another Republican in the first round of voting. But they still hoped to humiliate him by splintering the votes so that no one won. |
| That would have sent the speaker’s election to a second round of voting, for the first time since the 1920s. It would also have sent the House into recess, so Republicans could retreat into their basement meeting room for an epic airing of grievances. Then — maybe — the plotters hoped that Boehner would take himself out of the running, in favor of a new GOP candidate. | That would have sent the speaker’s election to a second round of voting, for the first time since the 1920s. It would also have sent the House into recess, so Republicans could retreat into their basement meeting room for an epic airing of grievances. Then — maybe — the plotters hoped that Boehner would take himself out of the running, in favor of a new GOP candidate. |
| “This is the result of a couple weeks of hard work,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the plotters, said in an interview. He said that Boehner’s team was “whipping,” or cajoling uncertain allies, to defeat the coup attempt. Boehner defeated a similar effort in 2013. “The leadership is nervous, they’re whipping, and they know if they don’t, they’ll lose.” | “This is the result of a couple weeks of hard work,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), one of the plotters, said in an interview. He said that Boehner’s team was “whipping,” or cajoling uncertain allies, to defeat the coup attempt. Boehner defeated a similar effort in 2013. “The leadership is nervous, they’re whipping, and they know if they don’t, they’ll lose.” |
| In the end, their effort seemed to show how splintered the anti-Boehner forces were, instead. Some of their group voted for Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), others for Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), and others for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.). One cast a vote for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and an Alabama congressman voted for his home-state senator, Jeff Sessions (R). | In the end, their effort seemed to show how splintered the anti-Boehner forces were, instead. Some of their group voted for Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), others for Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), and others for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.). One cast a vote for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and an Alabama congressman voted for his home-state senator, Jeff Sessions (R). |
| That was 13 more than had voted against Boehner in a previous coup effort, in 2013. But, in part because more Republicans were elected last fall, Boehner still won with votes to spare this time. | That was 13 more than had voted against Boehner in a previous coup effort, in 2013. But, in part because more Republicans were elected last fall, Boehner still won with votes to spare this time. |