Coup d'Boehner?
HOUSE REPUBLICANS CIRCULATE PLAN TO OUST BOEHNER FROM SPEAKERSHIP
Excerpt:
Several conservative House Republican members are contemplating a plan to unseat Speaker John Boehner from his position on January 3, Breitbart News has exclusively learned. Staffers have compiled a detailed action plan that, if executed, could make this a reality.
The Republicans, both conservatives and more establishment members alike, are emboldened after the failure of Boehner’s fiscal cliff “Plan B” on Thursday evening. Dissatisfaction with Boehner is growing in the House Republican conference, but until now there hasn’t been a clear path forward.
Those members and staffers requested anonymity from Breitbart News at this time to prevent retaliation from Boehner similar to what happened to those four members who were purged from their powerful committee assignments a few weeks ago. Their expressed concern is that if Boehner knew who they were, his adverse reaction toward them would be much more brutal than losing committee assignments, such as a primary challenge in 2014 by a leadership-sponsored candidate.Comments: Anonymity means "chickens". Ousting Boehner would be a big mistake! Hey Republicans ... taxes are going to go up on everyone if we dive over the cliff. The President offered a $ 400K threshold. Time to deal!
1/2/13: Boehner likely to be reelected speaker, but there could be drama
ReplyDeleteThe House will vote tomorrow to elect a Speaker of the House. While it is likely that Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) will be reelected, if 17 conservatives decide to vote against Boehner, it could lead to the first second ballot for speaker since 1923.
There are no indications Boehner will not be re-elected Speaker. While there will likely be members who vote against him, there is no real candidate that could garner enough votes to take Boehner down.
GOP Leaders Take Political Risk With Deal -
ReplyDeleteSenate's McConnell Could Face Tea-Party Challenger in 2014, and House's Boehner Emerges Battered in 'Thankless' Job:
Mr. Boehner emerged from the fight weakened and battered within his own caucus, many Republicans say, but facing no real threat to his hold on the speakership in the next Congress, which begins Thursday.
Even critics argue his hand could be strengthened as the focus shifts from taxes to spending cuts as part of any deal to lift the debt ceiling, the next big fight on the Washington agenda, now just two months away.
"John and I have not always seen eye to eye, but he's very much underestimated in terms of his strength—and especially now that we are moving off the tax front, where the president had the upper hand, and onto the spending front, where John Boehner will have the leverage," said Rep. Tom Cole (R., Okla.).
Debate over Mr. Boehner's future comes as Republicans begin to weigh potential fallout from the fiscal-cliff deal, which raises taxes on wealthier Americans but makes no new spending cuts.
Mr. Boehner's two deputies in the House, Eric Cantor of Virginia and Kevin McCarthy of California, both voted against the bill. Some of the potential 2016 presidential hopefuls took different stances, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio voting no, and Rep. Paul Ryan, the 2012 vice-presidential nominee, voting in favor.
Within the House, conservative critics acknowledge that Mr. Boehner entered the fiscal-cliff showdown with a weak hand, but they say he was too quick to cede ground to the White House on tax increases and did too little to press the need for spending cuts.
Follow on analysis: The Secret War Against House Speaker Boehner: Led by Amash
ReplyDeleteThe height of the tension came when the number of defections was at nine, and the number of abstentions or no-shows was at eight, meaning the magic number of 17 anti-Boehner votes [which would have lead to a second-round] was a possibility...
The plot against Boehner was promptly dashed when the conservatives who had missed the first roll emerged from the cloakroom. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a former presidential candidate, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, two members often seen on cable TV, slowly strolled down the aisle and waited for the vote to be called again — and they both voted for Boehner. That possibility of 17 suddenly disappeared...
1/6/12: Boehner Coup Attempt Larger Than First Thought
ReplyDeleteA concerted effort to unseat Speaker John A. Boehner was under way the day of his re-election to the position, but participants called it off 30 minutes before the House floor vote, CQ Roll Call has learned.
A group of disaffected conservatives had agreed to vote against the Ohio lawmaker if they could get at least 25 members to join the effort. But one member, whose identity could not be verified, rescinded his or her participation the morning of the vote, leaving the group one person short of its self-imposed 25-member threshold. Only 17 votes against Boehner were required to force a second ballot, but the group wanted to have insurance.
Even with 24 members, the group would easily have been able to force a second ballot round, but the effort was aborted in frenetic discussions on the House floor.
“There was an effort to get to a particular number,” said one Republican member who voted for Boehner but was familiar with the effort to oust him.
Republican Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho played key roles in organizing the plot. But participants describe its origin as organic and not led by any particular member, despite the suggestion by at least one House Republican that Amash was the ringleader.