Is Boehner's Time As Speaker About To End? We Think It Can't Happen Too Soon!

GOP Lawmaker Predicts The End Of John Boehner’s Time As Speaker

April 29, 2014 by Sam Rolley 

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A Republican Congressman from Alabama said during an interview this week that he doesn’t believe John Boehner will run for re-election for Speaker of the House, contending that the Ohio Republican would be unable to muster the required votes.

Representative Mo Brooks, who supported Boehner’s 2013 bid for Speaker, told The Hillthat he would not consider throwing his name behind Boehner again in 2015.

“I don’t think John Boehner will be Speaker this time next year,” Brooks said. “But I think it’s because, in my judgment, he’s not going to run for re-election as Speaker, but if he does, I’ll be mildly surprised if he can get the 218 votes that the Constitution requires.”

Boehner recently came under fire for mocking fellow Republicans who disagree with his plans for immigration reform.

“Here’s the attitude. ‘Ohhhh. Don’t make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too hard,’” had Boehner said in a whining voice during a recent appearance in Ohio.

The Speaker walked back on the ridicule during a meeting with his GOP colleagues this week.

“You only tease the ones you love,” Boehner told reporters following a meeting with fellow Republicans.

But Brooks said that Boehner’s remarks that many Republicans “take the path of least resistance” on immigration are not true and counterproductive.

“I did not think the Speaker’s comments were reflective of the concerns of the Republican conference,” he said. “They were counterproductive to the Republican conference. I’m pleased that he apologized for having made these remarks, but he really shouldn’t have made them in the first place, because they’re untrue.”

Brooks also expressed other grievances about Boehner’s attitude toward conservatives.

“He is just not acting like an individual who is doing the things you would need to do to get re-elected Speaker of the House,” Brooks said.

“It might be the acquisition of the residency in Florida, it might be blaming the Republicans, his own caucus, for the shutdown, it might be blaming his own caucus for the impasse over immigration, it might be the rather salty language he has used to describe some of his own Republican conference members, but you add all these things, and that’s just not the kind of conduct you would expect from someone who is going to run for Speaker.”

Indeed, Boehner started the year out on the wrong foot with conservatives at a time when many GOP voters are wishing for a Republican Party that veers harshly right, especially on fiscal issues.

In December, the House Speaker declared war on “outside” conservative groups like Heritage Action and Club for Growth who criticized him for backing an $85 billion bipartisan budget compromise that increased government spending.

“Are you kidding me?” Boehner shouted during a press conference at the time.

“Frankly I think they’re misleading their followers. I think they’re pushing our members in places they don’t want to be,” he added. “And frankly I just think they’ve lost all credibility.”

When asked if he was calling on the outside groups to dial down their lobbying of conservatives in Congress, Boehner said, “I don’t care what they do.”