CQ

CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
July 28, 2011 – 11:48 p.m.

House GOP Struggles to Find Votes

By Richard E. Cohen, CQ Staff

In a day of high drama and upended expectations, House Republican leaders abruptly delayed and then put off for the night a scheduled vote on their deficit reduction bill, injecting new uncertainty into the battle over boosting the debt limit before an Aug. 2 Treasury deadline.

The resulting tumult raised serious questions about how Speaker John A. Boehner, less than a year into his position as the nation’s highest-ranking elected Republican, has handled the issue, on which he has staked a major personal investment. And it left unclear whether leaders will be able to win passage Friday when the House is expected to try again to take it up. The delay came a day after House leaders expressed optimism that the measure would pass, which would set the stage for Congress to meet next week’s deadline to avoid a possible default on the nation’s credit.

Although Boehner seems unlikely to lose his position as Speaker, the setback risks weakening his effectiveness in ushering in an era of deficit reduction and in managing the House more broadly.

None of this was lost on Boehner and his top lieutenants, who huddled in leadership offices throughout the day and summoned one by one a parade of recalcitrant lawmakers to persuade them to support the bill (S 627). But as each walked out again, it became obvious to a phalanx of reporters that he was having limited success.

“The Speaker was very gracious and respectful,” said Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, as he left Boehner’s office Thursday evening. “He understands I am still a ‘no’ vote.” He added that he objects to actions in which “Republicans continue to compromise with ourselves.”

Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, applauded Boehner and his team for “not twisting and ripping arms off,” but added “I simply cannot raise the debt ceiling if we’re not going to fundamentally change the way we do business.”

Another example of the Boehner’s uphill challenge came when freshman Tim Scott, R-S.C., entered a room near the Speaker’s office to pray, he said, for the good of the country. But he said he had already received “divine inspiration,” having switched his position earlier in the day from a likely “no” to a definite “no,” despite the pleas of GOP leaders.

As the vote delay moved deep into the evening GOP leaders ducked in and out of rooms, followed by large groups of reporters. They said little. “I know you all want to go home — we’ll let you know,” said Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

Eventually, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the vote would be put off until Friday, and the bill was sent back to the Rules Committee.

A visibly and audibly exhausted Greg Walden, R-Ore., claimed to have personally persuaded six wavering lawmakers over the past few days. “Once they got the information and kind of realized the alternatives, they saw that this is the best course of action,” said Walden, a trusted Boehner lieutenant. But, as the hour got late, resolution remained elusive. “I think we still have work to do, but we’re gaining.”

Boehner worked off a list of more than 24 “hard ‘no’” Republicans to salvage votes, said a Boehner ally. Resistance came less from tea party-backed freshmen than from a group of hard-core conservatives and iconoclasts, including those running for higher office and lawmakers facing a party primary or the threat of major redistricting shifts, the ally said.

With two House vacancies and Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and Maurice D. Hinchey, D-N.Y., not expected for the vote because of illness, plus the expectation that they would receive no Democratic support, Republican leaders would need support from at least 216 of their 240 members.

Issues in House Stall Senate

House GOP Struggles to Find Votes

The spectacle on the House side of the Capitol delayed actions in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said during the afternoon he expected the Senate would vote on — and defeat — Boehner’s bill soon after it had been passed. Later, Reid’s office announced that the Senate will “lay out a path forward” Friday morning.

Reid has been making plans with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for an alternative bill that could secure the requisite 60 votes for Senate passage and possibly attract a mix of Republican and Democratic votes in the House.

The prospects of the Senate’s move continued to roil the House, and added to the challenges facing Boehner. Many Republicans feared that any changes by the Senate would jeopardize Republican support — and passage — of the measure, even if House Democrats decided to back the amended version.

Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who is backing Boehner, said House Republicans have a deal with Senate leaders. “I am hoping that their compromise will carry the day in the Senate,” Pence said. “Where I come from, a deal is a deal.”

For Boehner, these cross-currents across Capitol Hill became a nightmare as he sought to complete House passage of the bill to which he had committed his own name — an unusual step for any Speaker. Another potential problem for Boehner is that his visible role in the debate has alienated major conservative groups outside Capitol Hill.

Long before overseeing the legislative details and making personal pleas for House Republicans to support the bill, Boehner helped organize a host of “listening sessions” and other meetings to brief members about the urgency of the debt-ceiling increase.

In May, he delivered a major speech in New York in which he outlined the terms that would be required for House approval — including spending cuts over 10 years that would exceed the amount of the debt-ceiling increase.

Plus, Boehner and his top aides held numerous negotiating sessions with President Obama and White House officials in which they sought to write a bipartisan deal. But those talks collapsed July 22, with Boehner claiming that Obama had “moved the goal posts” and Obama contending that hard-line conservatives had prevented Boehner from accepting a favorable deal.

Even with the eventual House passage of the Speaker’s bill, all of these steps “leave Boehner weakened” with House Republicans and Democrats across the Capitol, said a senior House Democratic aide. “The limelight is on him. He has failed to deliver on his biggest test,” the aide said.

For GOP members to emerge from Boehner’s office and publicly concede that they had not been persuaded added to the embarrassment, the veteran aide said. “He has been too engaged . . . .He is a tough deal-maker. But he doesn’t have hard-core support from his members.”

Uncertain Cost

Whatever the outcome of the debt ceiling debate, the growing question for Boehner may be: What will be the price to his Speakership?

The House’s recent history includes few examples of a Speaker losing a showdown vote, or being forced to make major changes in his proposal.

House GOP Struggles to Find Votes

Perhaps the most notable case came in early 1981, when a coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats approved President Ronald Reagan’s agenda of tax cuts and spending cuts over the objection of Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., D-Mass.

Even in that case, O’Neill largely stepped aside and allowed the opposition to move the legislation, with an expectation — met later that year — that Democrats eventually would regain working control.

On the current debt issue, Boehner’s involvement dramatically exceeded that of Speakers with other major legislation. In most cases, they typically embrace a president’s agenda or the clear-cut views of the congressional majority.

Boehner’s management of the debt ceiling bill has been so extensive that the far-reaching measure has skipped committee hearings or a markup, committee action Boehner pledged to restore in taking office in January.

When the Rules Committee this week reviewed his bill before sending it to the House floor, chairman David Dreier, R-Calif., delivered a brief summary. The only witness in the unusual session was Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who strongly opposes the measure.

Amid the uncertain outcome of the House vote and its impact for Boehner, even some Republicans who have rejected his pleas sought to minimize the potential damage or blame for him.

“The Speaker’s done a very good job, honestly. He has brought to the table a very clean, crisp opportunity for us to vote for something, and so you cannot fault him for his leadership,” said Scott, a declared opponent of the bill.

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said most hold-outs had no problem with Boehner’s leadership and that the Speaker was arguing the merits of the bill and not offering special favors.

“This kind of negotiation a couple of years ago would have cost about $20 billion” Flake said. “Seriously, that has been the most refreshing part of this whole thing. Nobody’s kids who were running for office were threatened. Nothing.”

Sam Goldfarb contributed to this story.

© Congressional Quarterly, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
77 K Street N.E. | Washington, D.C. 20002-4681 | 202-650-6500
  • About CQ-Roll Call Group
  • Privacy Policy
  • Masthead
  • Terms & Conditions
Back to the Top