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CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
June 7, 2012 – 8:18 p.m.

Boehner Moves Around Top Aides to Prepare for Election, End-of-Year Business

By Richard E. Cohen, CQ Staff

House Speaker John A. Boehner shifted the roles of two top staff aides Thursday to prepare for the coming elections, and the looming debate over spending, taxes and the nation’s debt.

Barry Jackson, who has been the Ohio Republican’s chief of staff for the past two years and a longtime aide, will become the Speaker’s senior strategist handling long-term planning and political issues.

Mike Sommers, who has been the Speaker’s deputy chief of staff, will take Boehner’s top staff position, where he will handle day-to-day management of the Speaker’s office and related House legislative activities.

The shift gives Boehner a close top ally freed of the daily demands of grappling with legislative challenges to take the long view and puts in his place a seasoned aide with policy experience to anticipate divisions within the conference.

“It helps Boehner to have someone focus on long-term policy, instead of spending all their time putting out fires,” said Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa.

It also could ease tensions between Boehner’s top staff and that of other Republican leaders, particularly the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. Jackson had burned some bridges with the staff of other Republican leaders and reportedly has had a strained relationship with Cantor’s top aide, something Cantor’s aides say is incorrect.

The move signals Boehner is shifting his attention beyond the November election to make plans for what could be a high-stakes period for House Republicans early next year, particularly if they hold their majority and there is a Republican president in the White House.

If President Obama is re-elected, that also would pose significant legislative struggles that could dominate the early months of the new Congress.

The tensions and often turbulent clashes within the House Republican Conference mean the changes in the Speaker’s office can have broader implications.

Boehner prefers planning for upcoming issues and said the move is designed to avoid last-minute decision making.

“John Boehner is a hands-on guy. Maybe, he will do more,” said Rep. Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio, who has been a confidant of the Speaker. “Legislatively, there has been some chaos . . . . Mike Sommers is a good [House] floor guy. He can spend more time working the floor, in a way that can result in more management of the House.”

Jackson’s focus on what he had often derided as “strategery” included eight years as a top White House aide to President George W. Bush, where he worked as the deputy to Bush adviser Karl Rove, who now leads American Crossroads, a top Republican Super PAC that hopes to raise more than $200 million to defeat Obama.

Relieving Jackson of some of his House management responsibilities permits him to return to plotting strategy. He unexpectedly took over as Boehner’s chief of staff in January 2010 following the sudden death of Paula Nowakowski, who served many years as Boehner’s top aide.

Boehner Moves Around Top Aides to Prepare for Election, End-of-Year Business

Working Both Sides of Aisle

Sommers brings a long history of policy expertise to his new post. He joined Boehner’s staff in 1997 and has worked on numerous issues — including agriculture, banking and budget matters. He worked on farm and international trade issues as an aide to Bush.

Although Jackson also has policy experience, which included his role in assembling the House GOP’s “Contract with America” in 1994, he served Boehner more as a high-powered political operative.

Sommers has had cordial dealings with other congressional offices on both sides of the aisle. “Mike and I were able to work corroboratively” when he served as policy director to then-Minority Leader Boehner from 2007 to 2010, said John Lawrence, the longtime chief of staff to current Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was Speaker at the time.

Despite the partisan battles in the House, senior leadership aides often work with their counterparts across the aisle on behalf of their bosses.

Following the January 2011 shooting of then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., for example, Jackson and Lawrence collaborated on efforts to temper divisiveness among House aides. “The role of the chief of staff is to step back from the day-to-day fray,” Lawrence said. “There are a lot of details in managing the House.”

During last year’s tense negotiations over raising the nation’s borrowing authority and other fiscal showdowns, Jackson represented Boehner in often fractious negotiations with his counterparts at the White House and in the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Senior aides to congressional leaders also play an important role in working with rank-and-file members of their party. “Boehner’s staff is decentralized,” said Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, a close Boehner ally. “He trusts his staff with wide latitude, and doesn’t micro-manage . . . . They are a deep, talented and loyal group of people.”

In addition to Sommers, Boehner has had one other deputy chief of staff — David Schnittger, whose workload includes the Speaker’s communications staff. With Jackson relinquishing his management responsibilities, Schnittger likely will gain additional assignments.

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