U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is on the way out in Congress and that’s good news for Republicans in the Florida delegation who have opposed his leadership.
Boehner faced challenges leading the House while getting a continuing budget resolution through as Congress faces a deadline at the end of September to pass it or face a federal shutdown. Complciating matters, conservatives want to defund Planned Parenthood, a proposal which Democrats in the U.S. Senate helped kill through legislatve manuevering.
Florida has been at the heart of the anti-Boehner movement in the GOP caucus. At the start of the year, five Republican congressmen from the Sunshine State refused to back his effort to continue leading the House.
U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., has been an outspoken Boehner critic since first being elected in 2012. When he first took his seat in 2013, Yoho refused to vote for Boehner as speaker and that opposition continued into his second term. Yoho challenged Boehner for the gavel but only garnered two votes. Nonetheless, Yoho has remained a fierce critic of Boehner and called for the speaker to leave Congress earlier this month.
Earlier this week, Yoho continued to argue that Boehner could not help solve America’s problems.
“The current leadership in Congress has proven time and time again unable to handle the challenges we face as a nation,” Yoho noted on Wednesday. “I will continue to push for new and stronger leadership in Congress that will do what is best for America -- not a political party.”
U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Fla., posed more of a threat to Boehner and he garnered 12 votes against him in January, including those of fellow Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Rich Nugent and Bill Posey. After hanging onto the gavel, Boehner kicked both Nugent and Webster off the powerful U.S. House Rules Committee.
As buzz built that Boehner would face another challenge from conservatives, Webster emerged as a possible opponent in a rematch. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., an outspoken critic of Boehner, hyped Webster up as a solid alternative to Boehner and the Florida congressman had support from the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., also voted against Boehner, throwing his support to U.S Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to lead the House.
With Boehner now on the way out, U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., appears a strong favorite to be the next speaker.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
