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Dec. 20, 2011 – 12:01 a.m.

Latest Showdown Tests Boehner’s Ability to Manage GOP Conference

By Richard E. Cohen, CQ Staff

Speaker John A. Boehner faces another economic policy showdown testing his ability to lead his conservative House Republican Conference.

And while there is no government default or shutdown at stake this time, Boehner hardly wants his first year as Speaker to end with a GOP political gambit that results in a payroll tax hike on Jan. 1.

The Ohioan is opposing a bipartisan Senate package (HR 3630) including a two-month extension of the current payroll tax cut, extended unemployment benefits and current Medicare payments to physicians. His opposition hardened after conservatives revolted against clearing the bill, prompting Boehner to call for conference negotiations and a one-year extension.

The appearance that the Speaker needed to be redirected by the rank-and-file has raised new questions about his ability to lead his conference.

The situation leaves Boehner orchestrating an odd turnaround for many House Republicans who have been resistant to extending the payroll tax cut for any duration: They are now calling for a one-year extension of something they have opposed. And they are now demanding the cost of that tax break be offset, a position that has been an anathema to the Republican position that tax reductions, unlike spending hikes, do not have to be offset with spending reductions or new revenue.

But Boehner’s hard-line position is also risky. The apparent standoff could leave some 160 million workers with larger Social Security payroll tax deductions next month and hurt the fragile economic recovery.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday he has no plans to call the Senate back into session to consider whatever the House endorses on Tuesday, warning House Republicans that failure to accept the Senate compromise will leave them responsible for raising taxes.

In an interview early Monday, Boehner appeared unruffled, while acknowledging that the outcome of the current confrontation remained “unknowable.”

In public, at least, most House Republicans have circled the wagons around Boehner. “He has handled it well, and agrees with us,” said freshman Cory Gardner of Colorado.

But, as in earlier protracted and bitter showdowns this year — the first in April that brought the House close to sparking a government shutdown in a battle over fiscal 2011 spending (PL 112-10), the second in August over raising the debt ceiling (PL 112-25) — Boehner is caught between his conservative conference and the need to make deals with the Democratic-controlled Senate and President Obama.

Boehner dismissed news reports suggesting renewed tensions with Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

Cantor appeared to take on Boehner during a Dec. 17 conference call with GOP lawmakers, arguing against accepting the Senate bill after the Speaker had touted at least one feature of that package — language that would push the Obama administration to expedite a decision on construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Boehner said his leadership team remains unified on the payroll tax issue, and insisted that he has consistently opposed the Senate-passed measure, including during the conference call. “I outlined the success of Keystone . . . while expressing disappointment” with Senate action on the overall measure. “We were all in the same place . . . . Eric and I are in the same place.”

Latest Showdown Tests Boehner’s Ability to Manage GOP Conference

Boehner said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., informed him and Cantor during a Dec. 16 meeting that the Senate extension of the payroll tax cut and other benefits would be for two months, instead of a year. “We expressed our concerns,” the Speaker said. But he added that there was “no conversation” indicating that the Senate would leave town until mid-January after passing the measure and sending it to the House, thus putting the GOP House majority in a take-it-or-leave-it situation.

Boehner declined to second-guess McConnell for not resisting the plan to depart before the House could respond to the Senate passage of the measure in a weekend session Dec. 17. But rank-and-file Republicans have not been reticent to criticize the Senate. First term Rep. Tom Reed of New York said he is “very troubled” by Senate Republicans’ support of the two-month extension.

Senate Republicans have criticized the House’s hesitation to endorse the Senate compromise.

“[T]here is no reason to hold up the short-term extension while a more comprehensive deal is being worked out. . . . What is playing out in Washington, D.C., this week is about political leverage, not about what’s good for the American people,” said Dean Heller, R-Nev. Indiana Republican Richard G. Lugar, said House passage of the Senate bill would be “best for the country as well as for all the individuals who are affected.”

A Political Grenade

The high-stakes standoff has left House Republicans exposed to Democratic criticism that they are risking a tax hike, a cutoff of some unemployment payments and reduced payments to doctors effective Jan. 1. And the conflict comes at a time of record-low public confidence in Congress—in the single digits, according to some polls.

Boehner again finds himself carrying what could be a political grenade as he insists on further payroll tax negotiations. With expressions of weariness, he insisted Monday he has not sought such a high-profile role in fiscal battles.

“It has made my life more difficult,” Boehner said. “I didn’t want to do [those bills] the way it was done. Senate leaders insisted on it. . . . It’s hard to break bad habits that have developed over the years.”

Boehner praised the work of House and Senate appropriators in charting the relatively smooth course of the $915 billion fiscal 2012 appropriations package (HR 2055; H Rept 112-331) that awaits Obama’s signature. “I had zero involvement,” he said. “I want the chairmen to grow. [House Appropriations Chairman Harold] Rogers [R-Ky.] did a masterful job.”

Boehner also defended his handling of the rebellious, 87 GOP freshmen elected last year, many with tea party backing. He said he has held weekly meetings with the freshmen and has responded to their questions.

As he plans for a new legislative year, Boehner laughed at the suggestion that 2012 will present a lighter load. “We have the sequester that will kick in. It’s big, bad and ugly,” he responded. On the domestic and international deficit and debt problem, “I truly believe that they have to be dealt with.”

Boehner also renewed his promise of early action on a bill combining energy production and infrastructure, and said Congress will tackle tax overhaul next year.

Boehner said it is “too early to tell” how closely congressional Republicans will coordinate with their party’s eventual presidential nominee. “You will see some relationships develop between the leaders and the nominee,” he said.

Latest Showdown Tests Boehner’s Ability to Manage GOP Conference

He added that the campaign will center chiefly on the economy and jobs.

Public disapproval of Congress stems chiefly from frustration with the economy, he said, adding that he is considering a strategy for better explaining Congress’ actions to the public. “I’m thinking about it,” he said.

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