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Go Home When Will Boehner Start Acting Like Speaker of the Whole...

JONATHAN CHAIT JULY 29, 2011

When Will Boehner Start Acting Like Speaker of the Whole House?

BY NORMAN ORNSTEIN

[Guest post by Norman Ornstein:]

Jennifer Rubin, writing in The Washington Post to reflect the thinking of the right, said that John Boehner needs to win in the House, even if it is a pathetic bare 216-vote win, to send the signal to Democrats and voters that his plan is the only thing that can pass that chamber. The idea that there is any plausibility to that notion is ridiculous. Many things can pass this House—if the goal is to get votes from all of the members, not just from among the 240 Republicans, with the hope of catching a random Blue Dog or two to claim bipartisanship. Bills aimed at getting 100 Democrats and 125 Republicans, or 150 Democrats and 80 Republicans, including the Reid plan, could make it through the House with the support of the speaker. But it is clear that Boehner is afraid or unwilling to go that route. In today’s warped parliamentary environment, a Republican speaker pushing a bill that can pass but without the support of the vast majority, even of his own party members, is toast.

In his televised rebuttal to President Obama on Monday night, Boehner started by noting, correctly, that he is speaker of the whole House, not just his party. The speaker is the first officer of the United States mentioned in the Constitution. He is elected by the entire House. Of course, in practice, a speaker is chosen by his party’s caucus and is a party leader. But he is first a constitutional officer, modeled after the British speaker who actually operates as a nonpartisan. Ironically, Boehner is acting like a British parliamentary party leader, but in a system that cannot long function in divided government with a parliamentary party that reflexively votes no on everything a president or a leader of the other party proposes. Boehner, as with so many others, has regularly talked about leaders acting as adults. We have perhaps until August 1 for Boehner to act as a real speaker of the whole House, trying to pass a bill that aims at all its members, not just his own party.

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8 comments

I guess we'll just have to wait for the 11th hour, like we did in April with the Government Shutdown, and THEN Boehner will act like a statesman and an adult. But apparently not until then.

- AllanL5

July 29, 2011 at 12:42pm

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"...We have perhaps until August 1..." We seem to be inching ever closer to the deadline. Can anybody with a better handle on economics and the Tbond market explain why 10-years are still almost at their nadir, and heading lower? I would have expected the opposite. Thanks in advance.

- Tristan

July 29, 2011 at 12:44pm

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I wish to commend you for your lifelong study of Congress, Mr. Ornstein. I have been reading you for thirty years now, and I have profited much from it.

- liberalref

July 29, 2011 at 12:52pm

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As I see it, right now the problem is divided government. It is divided between Grover Norquist and some other Republicans.

- Nusholtz

July 29, 2011 at 12:53pm

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A patriot needs to offer him that high-paying job now if the party cans him, which they will if Boehner is to act like the Speaker.

- rayward

July 29, 2011 at 12:55pm

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Tristan: lots of investor cash with nowhere to go. Japan's debt is twice their GDP, with Aa bond rating, and the Japanese can still issue government debt at near-zero interest rates. There is so little appetite for risk by investors that they will cling to 10-year USTs. This post is a bit unfair to Boehner. Was Pelosi speaker of the whole House, on any vote? Why the surviving Dem Blue Dogs are sticking with Pelosi during this debt-ceiling drama is beyond my comprehension.

- K2K

July 29, 2011 at 12:57pm

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Thanks, K

- Tristan

July 29, 2011 at 1:11pm

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K2K: This post is a bit unfair to Boehner. Was Pelosi speaker of the whole House, on any vote? Oooh, this one is so easy, thanks for the fat pitch. Does TARP ring a bell, after the first time it crapped out Democrats and Pelosi pulled Bush's ass out of the fire. If Democrats voted no then, the world would have been far worse off but the Democrats would have had an even bigger majority in the House, one that probably would have survived the midterms.

- blackton

July 29, 2011 at 1:51pm

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