House rules

WASHINGTON—Republicans reelected John Boehner, R-Ohio, to a third term as Speaker of the House on Jan. 6, but only after some conservatives demonstrated their displeasure with his leadership. Twenty-five GOP members voted for someone else or “present”—more than double the number who opposed Boehner two years ago and the most against an incumbent speaker in at least 100 years.

Boehner’s first-ballot reelection ensures a form of party continuity in the 114th Congress, but it also highlights the divide with conservatives who say he hasn’t fought hard enough for conservative causes and against President Barack Obama. Reps. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Ted Yoho, R-Fla.—two of the 12 members who voted against Boehner in 2013—launched an open rebellion before the new Congress assembled, publicly announcing their candidacies for the speaker’s gavel. They garnered only five combined votes, including their own.

Boehner has been a strong speaker in two ways: He’s helped the party build its largest majority since 1930, and he’s kept power concentrated in GOP leadership. The latter, illustrated in December when leaders jammed a massive spending bill through Congress on short notice, is one of the biggest complaints against Boehner. It’s also a reason 12 members voted for Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, a former state speaker who achieved bipartisan praise after decentralizing power in the Florida House of Representatives.

Webster, whom WORLD profiled last fall (see “Legislative guardian,” Oct. 4), declined to comment publicly about the effort to draft him, other than a brief social media post in which he said he was “humbled and honored” by his colleagues’ support. He previously told me he would consider an opportunity to run for speaker, but only if he could explain his vision: “I’d love to have one day—or two or three—to just use the rules,” he said. “If you have this pyramid of power, you can’t do anything based on principle, because it’s all about maintaining power.”

Even though Webster didn’t actively run for speaker, Boehner made him pay the price: Within hours of the vote, GOP leadership yanked Webster and one of the members who voted for him, Rep. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., from the influential Rules Committee. Lawmaker Yoho called the retribution “a sad day for American politics,” according to Roll Call: “Welcome to the new USSR,” he told fellow members.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., the third-longest-serving House Republican, told me he voted against the controversial December spending bill, but that wasn’t a reason not to support Boehner—who is pro-life, favors limited government, and has worked hard to pass conservative legislation. Smith said he is optimistic the next year will be productive, pointing to bipartisan measures such as the Vietnam Human Rights Act and reauthorization for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that now may get a vote. “The frustration is better focused on how the Democrat party on the Senate side abused their power,” Smith said. “Nobody crushed good legislation like [former Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid did.”

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., echoed Smith. Franks, whom Heritage Action ranks as the most conservative member of the House, has made a habit of bucking leadership, but he told me Boehner deserves the opportunity to lead with Republicans controlling the Senate: “This speaker, whether anybody realizes it or not, has never had the ability to do what he wanted to do. … The next two years will tell the story.”