Midday Roundup: Conservative coup attempt mars Boehner's big day

Opening session. Republicans took control of Congress yesterday. The transition went smoothly in the Senate, where Mitch McConnell of Kentucky took over the majority leader role he’s coveted for years. The transition was a little bumpier for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, whose colleagues reelected him as their leader, but not without some vocal dissent. Twenty-five Republicans voted for someone other than Boehner. Twelve votes went to Rep. Daniel Webster, whom WORLD Magazine profiled in September. Although not unexpected nor a first for Boehner, the futile revolt by conservative members of the GOP stole some of his thunder on the first day of the 114th Congress. It was the biggest defection from an incumbent speaker in 100 years. After all the pageantry of the opening session, lawmakers got to work on their first piece of legislation, a bill approving the Keystone XL pipeline. Not to be sidelined by all the GOP celebrating, President Barack Obama added a little dose of reality to the day by announcing he would veto any Keystone bill that made it to his desk. The oil pipeline battle likely is the first of many Republican bills destined to die in the Oval Office.

Underwater discovery. Search teams combing the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia say they have found the tail of AirAsia Flight 8501, which went down in stormy weather on Dec. 28. The discovery is important because the tail contains the plane’s black boxes, which investigators hope will help explain why the flight, en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore, crashed into the sea with no warning. Divers and search teams have so far recovered the bodies of 40 victims, some of whom were still strapped in their seats. The plane had 162 people on board. Although the pilot requested to rise to a higher altitude to avoid storm clouds minutes before losing contact with air traffic controllers, investigators say the bad weather likely wasn’t the sole cause of the crash.

VA shooting. A doctor and his killer are dead after an incident at a Veterans Affairs clinic in El Paso, Texas. The lone gunman shot the doctor and then suffered a gunshot wound, though it was not immediately clear whether he turned the gun on himself or was shot by someone else. The FBI is investigating the incident and has so far not identified either of the two men nor offered any potential motive for the attack. The clinic at Fort Bliss faced criticism last year for having some of the longest wait times in the nation. Veterans in the area waited an average of more than two months to see a mental health professional at the clinic and even longer to see a medical doctor.

Time warp. Boston historians had a big night Tuesday when they opened a time capsule buried in the cornerstone of the Massachusetts Statehouse in 1795. They knew what to expect; construction crews found and opened the capsule in 1855. They catalogued the contents and added a few items of their own before reburying it. The box contained five neatly folded newspapers, a collection of 23 coins dating as far back as 1652, a medal depicting George Washington, a replica of Colonial records, and a silver plate commemorating the erection of the new Statehouse. Samuel Adams and Paul Revere were among the dignitaries who oversaw the time capsule’s original burial. Conservators retrieved the box after crews discovered water in the building around the area that included the cornerstone.