U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, looks closer to keeping the gavel but he will still face opposition from members of the Florida delegation.
Bohener received a boost in recent days as key Republicans, including U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said they were supporting keeping him in charge. More than 20 conservatives refused to back Boehner earlier this year and are planning to hold a leadership vote in the days to come, after Pope Francis addresses Congress.
The Florida delegation was at the heart of the anti-Boehner contingent in the Republican caucus with U.S. Reps. Dan Webster, R-Fla., and Ted Yoho, R-Fla., challenging him. Yoho pulled only two votes but Webster garnered 12 votes including U.S. Reps. Rich Nugent, R-Fla., and Bill Posey, R-Fla. U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Fla., voted for U.S Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., to be House speaker. After the vote, Boehner removed Nugent and Webster from the House Rules Committee.
Conservatives are once again lining up against Boehner with U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., already filing a measure to vacate the chair while members of the the House Freedom Caucus have grown increasingly vocal about taking the speaker on again.
Talking to CNN, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has been vocal in his call to remove Boehner, floated Webster’s name as a potential replacement.
"Look, the problem that we have here is not an ideological problem with Speaker Boehner," Massie told CNN. "The problem that we have here is that he's subverting our republic."
"Daniel Webster is a very viable alternative," Massie added.
Yoho is also continuing to oppose Boehner though he has not launched another challenge to the speaker.
“That guy needs to go home,” Yoho told the Gainesville Sun about Boehner earlier this week. “He really does.”
But Boehner has a few cards up his sleeves and key Democrats have said they will back the Ohio Republican if a more conservative alternative emerges as a serious threat. Much of what happens will depend on what happens as a federal shutdown looms if an agreement is not reached by the end of the month while conservatives are still pushing federal defunding of Planned Parenthood.
Still, not all Republicans in the Florida delegation are ready to toss Boehner overboard. U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., told CNN that getting rid of the speaker at this time would be a mistake.
Rooney made a football analogy to CNN. “It’s kind of like firing your coach midseason,” Rooney said. “If you keep doing that, you’re going to have a perpetual loser.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
