Insider counts of the GOP rebels planning to vote against John Boehner’s reelection as House speaker have reached 18, but the Ohio Republican is taking a long-term view of the flash mob of foes and isn’t planning a harsh retaliation.
“He won’t, and the two opponents are goofballs,” said an outside advisor in a reference to gadfly speaker challengers, Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas and Ted Yoho of Florida.
In fact, key GOP advisors said that the vote against the speaker, possibly larger than Boehner faced in 2013 but not enough to seriously challenge his post, will be forgotten quickly.
“It better be quickly forgotten, for everyone’s best interests,” said another advisor. He said that any punishment of Gohmert or Yoho would enrage Tea Party members that Boehner will need on his side for upcoming votes.
“When they punish an elected member, it really strengthens the grassroots opposition out across the country. Our voters actually have the old-fashioned conviction that the people they send to D.C. should be able to vote their conscience without being punished by their own team,” said the Boehner advisor.
Boehner has a solid record of dealing with his splintered caucus without bringing the hammer down on insider critics. And instead of watching what he does to the 11-18 expected to vote against him, another longtime GOP leadership advisor said that members will be watching for the reaction of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and whether he cracks the whip.
“The guy conservatives will be watching like a hawk is majority leader McCarthy. How he handles this first-day drama will stick in folks’ minds for a long time,” said the advisor. “He shouldn’t overreach.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
