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The
Hill
Conservative
lawmaker predicts Boehner won’t run for Speaker again
By
Russell Berman
A
House Republican who supported Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2013
is predicting Boehner won’t run for the job again and says he would
be surprised if he could win reelection by the House.
“I
don’t think John Boehner will be Speaker this time next year,”
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said in an interview. “But I think it’s
because, in my judgment, he’s not going to run for reelection as
Speaker, but if he does, I’ll be mildly surprised if he can get the
218 votes that the Constitution requires.”
Brooks,
a conservative serving his second term, voted for Boehner on the
floor of the House in January 2013, but he would not say if he would
do so again in 2015.
His
prediction came hours after Boehner used a private GOP meeting to
walk back comments he made in Ohio last week that were seen as
mocking his fellow Republicans for a lack of courage to pursue
immigration reform.
“You
only tease the ones you love,” Boehner told reporters, repeating a
phrase he used inside the meeting. He acknowledged, however, that
“sometimes I can rib people just a little too much.”
Boehner
last week told a hometown rotary club in Ohio that many of his
colleagues “take the path of least resistance” rather than make
hard choices like confronting a broken immigration system.
“Here's
the attitude. 'Ohhhh. Don't make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too
hard,' ” Boehner said in a high-pitched voice, likening his fellow
Republicans to a small child.
Brooks
is a staunch opponent of legislation that would give legal status or
citizenship to illegal immigrants, and he said Tuesday that Boehner’s
explanation was “inadequate.”
“I
did not think the Speaker’s comments were reflective of the
concerns of the Republican Conference,” he told The Hill. “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
said it was Boehner’s actions on immigration as well as several
other comments and moves he has made in recent months that have led
him to believe he won’t seek reelection.
“He
is just not acting like an individual who is doing the things you
would need to do to get reelected Speaker of the House,” Brooks
said...
Read
the rest of the article at The Hill
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