john-boehner

A Narrower Majority for Republicans Could Widen the House Divide

Some members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus met privately on Wednesday to discuss agitating for more clout, which could take the form of a challenge to Mr. Ryan, or a call for rules changes that the speaker is likely to oppose.

.. Nonpartisan analysts are forecasting that Democrats will pick up five to 20 seats next week, well shy of the 30 needed to retake control.

.. They also have been weighing rules changes they would like to see — within the party and for the House as a whole — largely intended to empower members with responsibilities typically reserved for leadership, including the selection of committee chairpersons.

.. Members of the caucus are also concerned about a push from more moderate Republicans to toss out the so-called motion to vacate the chair, a procedural move through which a single member can force a vote to remove the speaker. One member of the Freedom Caucus, Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, tried to use it to oust John A. Boehner from his speakership last year, prompting many — including Mr. Ryan — to criticize it.

.. Their latest discussions — and the fact that a narrower Republican majority would mean Mr. Ryan could afford to lose fewer votes to retain his speakership — have raised the prospect that the group could resort to political hostage-taking to fulfill their demands.

Which Republicans Oppose Donald Trump? A Cheat Sheet Which Republicans Oppose Donald Trump? A Cheat Sheet

Michael Steele becomes the sixth former chair of the Republican National Committee to say he will not vote for the GOP nominee.

.. He joins Marc Racicot (chair 2002-2003), who told Bloomberg in August, “I cannot and will not support Donald Trump for president.” Mel Martinez (2007) memorably told The Wall Street Journal, “If there is any, any, any other choice, a living, breathing person with a pulse, I would be there.” Bill Brock (1977-1981) has said he won’t back Trump, and so has Ken Mehlman (2005-2007). Rich Bond (1992-1993) wrote in an email in May that he would not vote for either Trump or Clinton, and would write in Homer Simpson if need be.

.. Despite a mass exodus since a video emerged of Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women, some prominent Republicans have still kept backing Trump. That notably includes Speaker Paul Ryan, who is officially a Trump endorser, even though he has said he will not defend or campaign for the nominee, and even though Trump has taken to attacking him during stump speeches and interviews; and also Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Barbara Bush: NAY

.. Unlike her husband and elder son, the former first lady has publicly disavowed Trump. “I mean, unbelievable. I don’t know how women can vote for someone who said what he said about Megyn Kelly, it’s terrible

Mitt Romney: NAY

.. “I wanted my grandkids to see that I simply couldn’t ignore what Mr. Trump was saying and doing, which revealed a character and temperament unfit for the leader of the free world.” Romney continued: “I know that some people are offended that someone who lost and is the former nominee continues to speak, but that’s how I can sleep at night.”

Bob Dole: YEA

.. The former Senate majority leader and 1996 GOP presidential nomineeendorsed Trump on May 6. He will also be the only living GOP nominee to attend the RNC. (May 6, 2016.)

John Boehner: YEA
The former speaker, who says he and Trump are “texting buddies,” told an audience at Stanford University that he’d back Trump in the general election.

Trent Lott: YEA

Dick Cheney: YEA
The former vice president blasted Trump during the primary over his stance on 9/11, and said he “sounds like a liberal Democrat,” but he now says he will back the nominee.

Newt Gingrich: YEA

Jeb Bush: NAY

Reince Priebus: YEA

Rick Perry: YEA
The former Texas governor and presidential candidate—who was one of the first to blast Trump—told CNN that he backs Trump.

Mike Huckabee: YEA
The former Arkansas governor, who ran for president this year, says Republicans should get in line. “When we nominated people over the past several election cycles, some of us had heartburn, but we stepped up and supported the nominee,” he said. “You’re either on the team, or you’re not on the team.” (May 5, 2016)

Bobby Jindal: YEA
The former Louisiana governor, who during his own presidential campaign called Trump a “narcissist” and an “egomaniacal madman,” wrote in a Wall Street Journal column that he’s voting for Trump, “warts and all.”

Eric Cantor: YEA

Can the U.S. Win This Election?

For starters, this version of the Republican Party has to die. I don’t say that as a partisan. I say that as a citizen who believes that America needs a healthy center-right party that offers more market-based solutions to problems; keeps the pressure on for deregulation, freer trade and smaller government; and is willing to compromise. But today’s version of the G.O.P. is not such a problem-solving party.

We have known that ever since the G.O.P. speaker of the House John Boehner quit, not because he couldn’t work with President Obama but because roughly a quarter of House Republicans, the so-called Freedom Caucus, were simply not interested in governing and had made his job impossible.

.. The bigger Clinton’s margin of victory, the less dependent she’d be, I hope, on the left wing of her party, and the more likely she’d work with Republicans, as she vowed during the last debate, by “finding common ground

..I say “hope” because I don’t know who the real Hillary is — the more Bernie Sanderish one speaking publicly or the more Bill Clintonish one who spoke privately to Goldman Sachs.

..The nightmare scenario — ruling out, God forbid, a Trump victory — is that Clinton wins with a slim majority and the G.O.P. holds the House and the Senate. The Democratic left would have a stranglehold on Clinton while Trump, who would start his own TV network and movement, would keep the Republican base in a state of permanent anger, intimidating every Republican lawmaker who contemplated compromise. If that happens, America will be adrift.

.. Within hours of the leak of the “Access Hollywood” tape showing Trump saying vile things about women, WikiLeaks, which seems to have become an arm of Russian intelligence, leaked Democratic Party emails meant to embarrass Clinton. The Clinton camp suggested that Russia was trying to tilt the election to Trump. If so, crushing Trump at the polls is the best way for Americans to say to Vladimir Putin, “You can manipulate your elections, but you can’t manipulate ours.”

John Boehner’s Entirely Predictable Next Act

Boehner, in fact, will be assisting two separate firms. Last week, news broke that he is joining the board of Reynolds American, Inc. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, the name of one of its companies might: R.J. Reynolds, maker of Camel, Newport, and other cigarette brands. It’s a fitting gig for a man who was once “the nation’s highest-ranking smoker,”

.. Boehner isn’t becoming a lobbyist, at least not in name. He’ll be a “strategic adviser,” a title The Washington Post noted Tuesday is “a common designation for former legislators who take K Street jobs after leaving office but do not register to lobby.”