Boehner challenged but wins another term as Speaker WASHINGTON, DC --- (January 6, 2015) House Speaker John Boehner took the gavel for a third term as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday despite a last-ditch effort by tea party conservatives to unseat the West Chester Twp. Republican. In all, 24 members of his caucus voted for other Republicans for speaker, while a 25th, Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, voted “present.” Despite the drama, Boehner received 216 out of 408 votes cast — 11 more votes than he needed to win the election on the first ballot. Had he fallen short, a second ballot would have been required in a chamber that now has the largest GOP House majority since the Truman administration. The vote Tuesday made clear, however, that Boehner’s caucus includes a sizable number of members who are not happy with him. The defections more than doubled from two years ago, when 12 Republicans either voted for another candidate or voted “present.” Ohio Republicans unanimously backed Boehner for speaker, though one member — Rep. Jim Jordan, a tea party favorite from Urbana — received two votes for speaker. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla, came in second among Republicans, receiving 12 votes. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., received 164 votes, including support from all four Ohio congressional Democrats. Boehner needed a majority of votes cast, or 205 votes, to avoid a second ballot. Minutes after the vote, Boehner, 65, flanked by Republican and Democratic members of the Ohio House delegation, entered the floor to applause and cheers. “Let’s make this a time of harvest,” he said, urging the House to do good work and “disagree without being disagreeable.” Boehner’s path to a third term as speaker initially looked clear, with no Republicans stepping up to oppose him when the GOP caucus met to decide on House leadership in November. But a handful of House conservatives were outraged in December over what they perceived as a missed opportunity. Boehner at that time chose not to use a $1.1 trillion spending bill as leverage against President Barack Obama’s executive order that would allow some 5 million undocumented immigrants to escape risk of deportation. Last weekend, two conservative Republicans — Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., and Louie Gohmert, R-Texas — announced they would run against Boehner for speaker. Gohmert received three votes and Yoho received two. Among others receiving votes from House Republicans: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who do not serve in the House. That the conservatives could not unite behind one candidate indicates that even within that small group, there are also divisions, and no real consensus on an alternative to Boehner. But Democrats, too, did not universally vote for Pelosi: Four Democrats voted against her, including one Democrat who voted for retired four-star Gen. Colin Powell as speaker.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 01:24:45 +0000
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