Tired of the rebellion of newer, more conservative lawmakers, rank and file House Republicans finally pushed Speaker John Boehner this week to mete out punishment to these lawmakers who recently voted against a key trade-related resolution.
“I think it just got to the point where an awful lot of people were saying, geez, they go out and they openly vote against the leadership and the rest of the Republicans, and nothing ever happens to them,” Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, a close Boehner ally, told the Washington Examiner. “I think it was a lot of us pounding on leadership, saying you have to put some discipline back in our conference.”
Four Republican lawmakers have been ousted from leadership positions since the vote, and one more GOP member could get the ax on Thursday.
The punishment comes in response to a June 12 vote on a resolution to advance a “Fast Track” trade package. The “rule” — a resolution to advance the bill — nearly failed after 33 conservative GOP lawmakers voted against it.
Democrats saved the measure by providing eight votes.
But the near-debacle served as the last straw for the rank and file GOP who have grown increasingly impatient with the conservative faction of members who say they are merely trying to remain true to their constituents, no matter what the leadership wants.
Among them was Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who days after his “no” vote was ousted from his House Oversight subcommittee chairmanship overseeing government operations. Republicans also booted three conservatives from the GOP whip team in retribution for their vote against the rule to advance the trade bill.
On Thursday, the freshman representative to Boehner’s GOP leadership team, Rep. Mimi Walters, of California, will move to oust Rep. Ken Buck from his position as GOP freshman class president, she told the Examiner.
Buck, of Colorado, voted against the trade rule. He’s upset that it appears the leadership is punishing him for his vote.
Buck said conservatives opposed the rule because they wanted to make changes to the overall trade package, which opponents believe will give President Obama too much authority on trade deals. The rule prevented debate on amendments desired by conservative lawmakers.
“This was a vote by a lot of people that was trying to say to leadership, open this process up and let Democrats and Republicans come up with some ideas for this,” Buck said in an interview.
But the majority of the House GOP believe it is verboten to vote against a procedural “rule” vote because by doing so, it cedes power to the Democratic minority and its leader, Nancy Pelosi of California.
“The fact is, we’ve got more than 200 rank-and-file members who are royally pissed off at those guys for voting against the rule,” a top leadership aide told the Examiner. “There’s plenty of anger to go around, but the large majority of it is from members who believe much more punishment should be doled out. This is member driven, not leadership driven.”
Conservatives don’t see it that way, and a group met Tuesday night to discuss how to strike back against the leadership.
They argue that many of them were elected in the past five years by voters looking for the GOP leadership to pass legislation to reduce the deficit and federal spending, repeal Obamacare and slow down President Obama’s agenda to expand immigration.
“If the leadership wants to be successful it ought to be working on those things, rather than pushing back and punishing folks that are doing conservative things,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., who was stripped of a committee assignment in the last Congress for voting against the leadership. “It sends a strong message that the Republican class in Washington doesn’t understand what the heart and soul of the Republican party thinks.”
Boehner let the rank-and-file know what he thinks in a private meeting held in the basement of the Capitol Wednesday morning. He told the group he supports the move to strip Meadows of his chairmanship.
“Part of being in the majority is advancing an agenda — a conservative agenda,” Boehner told Republicans, according to a witness. “You may not agree with every part of the agenda, and when you don’t, you can vote your conscience. But voting against rules is not a vote of conscience. It is a vote to hand the House floor over to Nancy Pelosi.”
Republicans say Boehner has come to realize that he’s not going to win over at least some of the conservatives who continue to flout the leadership.
“I think John realizes that you are never going to bring them into the fold,” Simpson said. “They are never going to be part of the team.”
