Boehner re-elected as speaker despite GOP dissenters

WASHINGTON — Republicans formally took control of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday with party leaders pledging to make Washington work better even as battle lines were already being drawn by both parties for the two years ahead.

Ongoing internal Republican divisions between party leaders and a small but influential conservative flank spilled on to the House floor as 25 GOP lawmakers did not support Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, for his third term as House speaker.

In the end, Boehner prevailed, as expected, with 216 votes out of 408 cast, but the opposition was the largest on record in the modern era for a sitting speaker. Boehner was first handed the speaker's gavel in 2011, following the 2010 Tea Party wave. In 2013, a dozen lawmakers opposed Boehner's re-election as speaker.

Across the Capitol, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., formally assumed his post as majority leader. Senate Republicans picked up nine seats in November, delivering a 54-46 majority in this Congress.

Like Boehner, McConnell struck an optimistic tone about the two years ahead. "A new Republican majority has accepted its new responsibility," he said. "We recognize the enormity of the task before us. We know a lot of hard work awaits."

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But internal divisions will continue to present a governing challenge for GOP leaders despite a midterm election that delivered the largest GOP House majority since the Hoover administration.

Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Ted Yoho of Florida and Daniel Webster of Florida were all nominated for speaker by Boehner opponents — Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma and Steve King of Iowa, respectively.

Webster received 12 votes; Gohmert received three; Yoho received two, as did Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and former secretary of State Colin Powell each received one vote for speaker. The speaker is a constitutional officer who presides over the U.S. House; the speaker does not have to be a sitting lawmaker but always has been.

In his address to the House, Boehner candidly acknowledged that there is widespread doubt that the next Congress can rise about the partisan divisions that have made recent years some of the most unproductive legislative periods on record. "So let's stand tall and prove the skeptics wrong," he said.

House Republicans have already been hit by image problems in recent weeks. Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., resigned following a guilty plea to tax evasion charges. Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., the No. 3 Republican in the House, admitted to addressing a white supremacy group more than a decade ago but disavowed the group's ideology. He continues to have the public support of his leadership team and other key lawmakers in both parties, despite calls from some liberal groups and conservative activists for him to step down.

Meanwhile, the White House announced Tuesday that President Obama would veto the pledged first act of the GOP Congress to approve the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite bipartisan support for the project in the U.S. Senate.

"I can confirm for you that if this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn't sign it," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. He suggested that the GOP's decision to move the pipeline as the first order of business "raises questions about the willingness of Republicans to actually cooperate with this administration."

However, the pipeline has the support of at least six Democratic senators, and received 31 votes in support from House Democrats last November.

A procedural dispute between the two parties — a common occurrence in the previous Congress — forced a cancellation of a planned Wednesday hearing on the pipeline.