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John Boehner

Boehner says 2016 election all about competence

Deirdre Shesgreen
Gannett Washington Bureau
House Speaker John Boehner speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Sept. 11, 2014.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday the driving issue of the 2016 election will be "competence" and if Jeb Bush decides to run, "he's got a real shot" at winning because of his record as the one-time governor of Florida.

"He has a record of serious, big reforms," the Ohio Republican said in an exclusive interview.

During a 30-minute session in his Capitol Hill office, Boehner also shot down fresh rumors that he will face a revolt from conservatives when he seeks a third term as speaker in January, and he dismissed suggestions that his leadership team would strip committee assignments from any GOP lawmaker who voted against him.

"I just don't think it's necessary," Boehner said of the possible punishment. He predicted that "very few" Republicans would vote against him when the 114th Congress convenes in January to elect its speaker.

Boehner has been working overtime to raise money and to campaign for House Republicans ahead of the November elections. And the GOP will almost certainly enjoy a bigger majority the next Congress.

But that doesn't mean his job will be any easier in the 114th Congress.

Republicans are expected to gain two to 12 House seats, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The GOP also may win a majority in the Senate, giving Boehner a partner — most likely Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — at the helm of that chamber.

Boehner said his relationship with McConnell would prove constructive in a GOP-led Congress.

"Mitch and I could not be closer," Boehner said. "We understand each other very well."

But he conceded that no matter what the election outcome, the new session of Congress will present new challenges.

The election could bring even more rebels into Boehner's already fractious GOP ranks. Already, some conservatives are openly talking about trying to oust him as speaker when the House casts a public vote in January.

"Time's up," Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., told The Hill, a Washington publication, this month. "In tough times, it doesn't mean you play timid, it means to play bold, and I don't see that."

Such sentiments could force a repeat of Boehner's cliffhanger re-election to speaker in January 2013, when conservatives fell a few votes short of forcing the leadership election to a second round of voting.

"His caucus is going to be more belligerent than it was before," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. "I think he survives the leadership vote, but once again he is going to have to play a passive-aggressive role, letting his more radical members take their positions all the way until it becomes apparent that they are self-destructive."

In other words, Boehner could preside over more fiscal brinkmanship if his members want to attach controversial measures to the annual spending bills. That tactic resulted in a government shutdown last fall, when Boehner was pushed by House conservatives into a showdown with the president over funding for the health care reform law.

Also, it's not clear how much time Boehner and McConnell will spend pushing contentious proposals, such as repealing the health reform law, that will not go anywhere with President Obama still in the White House.

On Tuesday, Boehner said the health care law "has to go" and the next Congress will "spend some time" trying to repeal it. But he said a GOP Congress would also focus on more doable legislation, such as repealing the medical device tax and approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

He also dismissed questions about whether the 114th Congress would be his last.

Recalling that he told House Republicans in June that he was "all in" for another term, Boehner said: "I'm going to stay all in."

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