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What Now on Debt? ‘God Only Knows,’ Says Boehner Boehner Again Finds the Speaker’s Chair Can be Lonely
(about 11 hours later)
WASHINGTON — House Speaker John A. Boehner, in the wake of the embarrassing defeat of his backup plan to avert a fiscal crisis in two short weeks, on Friday called on the Senate and President Obama to find a way out, but added that “God only knows” how Washington is going to get control of its finances. WASHINGTON — Less than 24 hours after failing to advance his plan to avert a fiscal crisis and telling his Republican colleagues to head home for the holidays, Speaker John A. Boehner walked silently into a news conference Friday on Capitol Hill, where reporters then pressured him to explain how he would manage to keep his job.
With the House headed home for the holidays and the Senate soon to depart, Mr. Boehner gave no hints of a path to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff,” when more than a half trillion dollars in automatic spending cuts and tax increases kick in beginning next month. He said that on Monday, he had delivered his demands to the president for a broad deficit-reduction deal to avoid the crisis. The president delivered his “bottom lines” and told him “he couldn’t go any further.” With his customary shrug and a grin, Mr. Boehner plainly acknowledged what the world already knew — he had failed to get enough Republicans to sign off on a deal to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts, and his members once again had left him standing nearly alone, like a man without a date to his own wedding, and at the crossroads of his career.
“Because of the political divide in this country, because of the divide here in Washington, trying to bridge these differences has been difficult,” the speaker said. It was a familiar feeling for Mr. Boehner, who has tussled with a small but vocal group of House Republicans for two years over bills to raise the debt ceiling (once scrapped just before midnight), to extend a payroll tax cut (announced curtly to members over the phone, mute button pressed to quiet dissent), and to keep the government running (hours before it would have shut down).
He did not blame House Republicans for bringing down his legislation that would have extended Bush-era tax cuts for all but the richest Americans, nor did he say their rebuke was a personal slap at his leadership. In possibly his final act as speaker of the 112th Congress, Mr. Boehner faces a formidable choice: does he acquiesce to the will of a minority of Republican House members — who together helped him win his gavel — and watch the country lurch over a so-called fiscal cliff, or does he come to an agreement with the White House and pass it on the House floor with a mix of Democrats and Republicans, risking the persistent, and perhaps fatal, wrath of the party purists among the rank and file.
“There was a perception created that that vote last night was going to increase taxes. I disagree with that characterization of that bill,” he said. But, he added, “we had a number of members who just really didn’t want to be perceived as having raised taxes. that was the real issue.” Should he choose to come to an agreement, it is clear he will have the support of Democrats. “These are big national moments,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. “It’s important the speaker put the good of the country above Republican House caucus politics.”
The speaker insisted that he was not walking away from talks with the president but no talks appeared to be scheduled. Mr. Van Hollen and other Democratic leaders in the House indicated Friday that they would help Mr. Boehner pass any measure he could put together with President Obama’s blessing.
“We’ve got differences, but the country’s got big spending problems, and we’ve got to get serious about addressing it,” said Mr. Boehner. Republicans fell roughly 20 votes short of those needed to pass Mr. Boehner’s bill Thursday night, which sought to make permanent all Bush-era tax cuts for household incomes under $1 million a year. In spite of Mr. Boehner’s assurances that the bill could pass the House — and the insistence of Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, that Republicans had the votes — the Republican team charged with rounding up votes could not bring enough members on board, even though many of those who declined to support the measure told Republican leadership aides that they secretly hoped it would pass.
Many of the same members who have long had a difficult relationship with Mr. Boehner — Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan, for example — appeared to fall away from him this week. But even more reliable members, like Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, who was part of the team charged with drumming up votes, also declined to give her support.
“We had calls to our office, and people said they were not in favor of Plan B,” said Ms. Blackburn, referring to Mr. Boehner’s plan. In terms of her role on the whip team, Ms. Blackburn said, “I am here to represent my constituents.”
Mr. Boehner acknowledged Friday that “there was a perception created that that vote last night was going to increase taxes,” even though his leadership team presented the bill as an opportunity to prevent tax increases for millions.
Some Republicans say they believe Mr. Boehner’s failed bill was part of a grand plan to demonstrate to his members, once again, that if they do not follow his path, a much rockier one will follow. In rejecting a bill that allowed taxes to increase on a small minority of Americans, some House Republicans may well now face a vote on a bill with a lower income threshold, far worse than any deal they have yet had to swallow.
Others suggest, though, that Mr. Boehner simply risked his speakership with the vote this week, something he professed to be unconcerned with.
“I’m not,” Mr. Boehner said Friday. “Listen, you’ve all heard me say this, and I’ve told my colleagues, if you do the rights things every day for the right reasons, the right things will happen.”
Mr. Boehner enjoys personal affection from a broad swath of his conference, and has the support of Mr. Cantor, who stood by Mr. Boehner at his news conference and has long been seen as the greatest threat to the speaker’s position. Further, some members said that by taking his licks on their behalf, Mr. Boehner had only further endeared himself to them.
“I have to tell you, I think Speaker Boehner has come through this stronger,” Ms. Blackburn said.
Others are less sure. “I like John Boehner,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said on the Senate floor Friday. “But gee whiz, this is a pretty big political battering he’s taking.”