Down with Boehner? GOP congressman launches bid to oust House Speaker

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) is leading a largely symbolic effort to strip Speaker John Boehner of his position, revealing growing discontent among conservatives in the House. 

|
Cliff Owen/AP Photo/File
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 9, 2015. On Tuesday, July 28, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) filed a resolution to vacate the chair in a largely symbolic effort to oust Mr. Boehner from his position.

A conservative Republican who was disciplined earlier this year by House Speaker John Boehner is pushing a largely symbolic effort to strip the Ohio Republican of his position as the top House leader.

Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina on Tuesday filed a resolution to vacate the chair, an initial procedural step. The proposal was referred to a committee stocked with leadership loyalists, and it is unlikely to emerge. The move, however, reflected the discontent among the more conservative wing of the House GOP, whose members have been frustrated with leaders' willingness to compromise on some legislation.

The resolution said Boehner "has endeavored to consolidate power and centralize decision-making, bypassing the majority of the 435 Members of Congress and the people they represent."

Meadows told reporters that he hoped his action prompted a "discussion" with Boehner and other House leaders "about representing the American people. It's about fairness."

Meadows said he wants Boehner and other GOP leaders to make sure that "every voice and every vote is respected, and votes of conscience are respected and not punished."

The acrimony within the Republican Party has been on stark display in Congress. Last Friday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of lying about votes. And more Republican infighting broke out Monday night as an email from an aide to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, suggested that conservative groups should take Lee's fellow Republicans to task if they opposed him on a legislative maneuver to advance a repeal of President Barack Obama's health care law.

Lee's move angered Republicans, and Lee sought to contain the damage, telling colleagues in a closed-door meeting that he hadn't authorized the email.

The resolution he filed accused the speaker of causing "the power of Congress to atrophy, thereby making Congress subservient to the Executive and Judicial branches, diminishing the voice of the American People." And it said Boehner "uses the power of the office to punish members who vote according to their conscience instead of the will of the Speaker."

Last month, the leadership briefly stripped Meadows of his subcommittee chairmanship over his votes but later relented after conservatives objected.

Boehner's office had no comment. He is in his third term as Speaker.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., dismissed the resolution and Meadows' move.

"You don't raise any money, you need a way to raise money, you do gimmicks like this," said Nunes, who is close to Boehner.

Meadows disputed that claim.

"This is really more about an issue of fairness. It is not about raising money" for re-election, said Meadows, a two-term lawmaker who was elected in the tea party-backed 2010 class and represents the western tip of North Carolina.

Some GOP lawmakers backing leadership voiced concern that by keeping his effort to depose Boehner alive during the August recess, it would blunt the Republican effort to focus voters on why President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran is bad.

"There's been no one that's been stronger on the Iran message. And to suggest we can only have one message when we go back home to talk to the American people would be to imply that our town halls can only have one question," Meadows said.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., who has experienced the wrath of the leadership and is a Boehner foe, complained that the leaders are "not listening to the American people." He faulted leaders for not allowing quick votes against same-sex marriage and federal money for Planned Parenthood.

"He just has the courage to do something about it," Jones said of Meadows.

Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this story.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Down with Boehner? GOP congressman launches bid to oust House Speaker
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0728/Down-with-Boehner-GOP-congressman-launches-bid-to-oust-House-Speaker
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe