Boehner and House GOP Regroup After Tumultuous Speaker Election
By Matt Fuller and Emma DumainPosted at 5:39 p.m. on Jan. 6
After the election of John A. Boehner to a third term as speaker Tuesday, House Republicans start the 114th Congress in a similar fashion to the 113th: Conservatives are unhappy with leadership and leadership’s not too pleased with some conservatives.
Tuesday’s floor vote insurrection wasn’t particularly close — Boehner won re-election with 216 of the 408 votes cast. But in a strong statement of protest, 25 Republicans voted for someone else or voted present. (On the Democratic side, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi received 164 Democratic votes, with four members of her party voting for someone other than the California Democrat.)
The 25 Boehner rebels — a mix of familiar conservative foes, some GOP freshmen and a few Republicans who typically vote with Boehner but broke rank on the speaker vote — sent a message to Boehner and Republicans in general that the conference is not unified, despite the massive gains the speaker has overseen as the House’s No. 1 Republican since 2006.
In his remarks after retaking the speaker’s gavel, Boehner expressed hope for a renewed era of cooperation and congressional productivity.
“They say nothing’s going to be accomplished here, that the division is wider than ever, and so the gridlock will be even greater,” Boehner said. “And frankly: Fair enough. Skepticism of our government is healthy, and in our time, quite understandable.
“But one problem with saying, ‘It can’t be done,’ is that it already has been done, or at least started,” he continued.
Boehner said that, as speaker, all he asked for and expected was for members to “disagree without being disagreeable.” He eventually shed some of his characteristic tears as he talked about planting seeds for congressional achievements, cultivating the ground and “tak[ing] care of the pests.”
But the proverbial pests who have long prevented Boehner’s legislative harvest had a different message: That it was time for Boehner to go. And even though they were unsuccessful in that endeavor, Republicans sent a signal to leadership — 25 dissidents was certainly more than most in the Capitol expected.
https://blogs.rollcall.com/218/boehner-and-house-gop-regroup-after-tumultuous-speaker-election/?dcz=