Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, says his state’s place in Congress is in limbo now that House Speaker John Boehner is stepping down at the end of the month.
“The Ohio delegation has got to figure out who we are now without John Boehner,” Johnson told a small group of reporters Thursday.
“It certainly sent us reeling because John Boehner has been in the House for 20-some odd years. He has been the senior Ohioan in the House for that long,” he said.
When asked if he thought Ohio was going to lose some of its clout once Boehner leaves, Johnson said that “is just common sense. The speaker used to be from our state, so now he’s not.”
“But we have some influential members in very influential places,” including Pat Tiberi, who is a “key subcommittee chairman on Ways and Means. I sit on Energy and Commerce, along with Bob Latta. We’ve got members on appropriations, we’ve got members on financial services … armed services.
“We’ve got some key positions to influence what’s happening for our state and for the people that we represent.
“But John, he’s is going to create a void that’s going to be hard to fill.”
