Politics –
Boehner Staying Put…For Now
The Republican Party is in disarray — so much so that it looks like John Boehner might be forced to stick around until a new Speaker of the House can be found.
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Last week, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California pulled out of the running for House Speaker, leaving the powerful position up for grabs. At least a dozen miscellaneous congressmen, including Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida have expressed interest in the post, but none have garnered enough support of the GOP conference. A small faction of conservatives have been actively wooing former vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, but he has consistently maintained he doesn’t want the job. So, Republicans are stuck.
Speaker Boehner wants out — yesterday — but he can’t leave the U.S. House of Representatives without a leader and he can’t throw the country in turmoil. If Rep. Paul Ryan refuses to replace him, it may take a while for a consensus to form around an alternative. However, if Boehner should stay a bit longer, he could do so with an enormous jolt of power.
Now that Speaker Boehner has announced his resignation, he has nothing to lose. The tea party forces that pushed him to resign after nearly 5 years in the top job have less leverage against a man who has already agreed to step down, but can’t. With the GOP stuck without a leader, Boehner can afford to play hard ball. Him sticking around could improve chances for a debt limit increase which would avoid a market-shattering government default. His presence might also help lawmakers reach a bipartisan budget deal to head off a government shutdown in December.
“While we go through this process, we’ve got to continue to address the people’s priorities. This institution cannot grind to a halt,” Boehner told Republicans last week in a closed-door session. “It is my hope — and indeed it is my plan — for this House to elect a new speaker before the end of October. But at the end of the day, that’s really up to the people in this room.”
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The Speaker of the House is a crucial post, since it is 2nd in line to the presidency. However, a Republican Party without a legitimate leader is a colossal joke — one Republicans have brought upon themselves.
“Sometimes the dog catches the car and doesn’t know what to do,” Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio, a Boehner ally, said of the House Freedom Caucus and other hard-right lawmakers who forced Boehner out. His analogy couldn’t be more spot on.
“It is ironic how smart John Boehner’s looking,” said Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “Frankly, all this talk of a ‘fresh new face’ sounds very sweet on the surface, but we’re not electing a student council president. His stock rises with the prospects of an alternative and the steadiness of his hand, the clarity of his positions — whether you like them or not — and the fact he’s not prone to panic. It’s all looking really good right about now.”
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida hopes the speaker’s election will be postponed until next year, with Boehner remaining as speaker in the meantime.
“I hope he can stay — if he’s willing to forgo some of his golf games and time with his grand baby,” she said, adding that she thinks Boehner would agree to serve into next year.
A long list of Republicans are considering running for Speaker or are being pushed to run by other members. They include Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois, Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas, Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon and others. If Rep. Paul Ryan does indeed sit this one out, the race for Speaker of the House could turn into an ugly free-for-all.
Somewhere, John Boehner must be sitting back smiling, arms folded, while thinking to himself: I told you so!
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The honor of it all aside, Rep. Paul Ryan would do well to decline the speakership of the House. For it is a poisoned chalice that is being offered to him. The Republican Party is not, as some commentators wail, in “chaos” today. It is in rebellion, in revolt, as it was in the early 1960s when Barry Goldwater’s true believers rejected Eisenhower Republicanism and Nelson Rockefeller to nominate the Arizona Senator for president. After the GOP capture of the House in 2010, Ryan, with new Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, wrote a book about what they were going to do titled Young Guns. “Young Guns” Cantor and McCarthy are now lying toes up in the OK Corral, and if Paul Ryan becomes speaker, he will end up the same way. […] Pat Buchanan Yes, the Republican party is in rebellion but they're up to their… Read more »