John Boehner: Fashion cop

Published December 21, 2007 5:00am ET



Dress up, then down 

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, doesn’t just keep the Republicans in line. He also likes to ride reporters for their (often questionable) sartorial choices.

So it was in his year-end pen-and-pad meeting Wednesday. The first target was CongressDaily’s Christian Bourge, who has been growing a beard of late. “You need a shave and a haircut,” Boehner razzed him. “What does your mother think?”

Next was David Rogers of the Wall Street Journal. “You need a comb,” Boehner chastised him.

Then it was time for Boehner to turn the proceedings over to Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam. “You’re in charge,” he told Putnam.

“Not of hygiene, I’m not,” replied Putnam.