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History > 2014 > USA > U.S. Congress
House of Representatives (I)
Eric
Cantor to Step Down
as
Majority Leader
JUNE 11,
2014
The New York Times
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
WASHINGTON
— Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, will
resign his leadership position within weeks, according to leadership aides,
setting off a scramble to remake the Republican leadership.
The move follows a stunning defeat in a primary election Tuesday in which voters
rejected him in favor of a more conservative candidate, and culminates a
precipitous fall for Mr. Cantor, who was thought to be a likely successor to
Speaker John A. Boehner.
By stepping down as majority leader, an aide to Mr. Cantor said, he hoped to
limit a festering struggle within the House Republican caucus over who would
assume his post.
Mr. Cantor attended a meeting with other members of the leadership Wednesday
morning in advance of a larger meeting of Republican members set for 4 p.m. He
definitively told aides and other Republican leaders that he would not mount a
write-in campaign this fall against the Tea Party candidate, David Brat, who
defeated him soundly in the Virginia Republican primary.
Eric Cantor to Step Down as Majority Leader, NYT, 11.6.2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/us/politics/
after-eric-cantor-primary-defeat-house-republicans-take-stock.html
House
Approves Higher Debt Limit
Without
Condition
FEB. 11,
2014
The New York Times
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
and ASHLEY PARKER
WASHINGTON
— Ending three years of brinkmanship in which the threat of a devastating
default on the nation’s debt was used to wring conservative concessions from
President Obama, the House on Tuesday voted to raise the government’s borrowing
limit until March 2015, without any conditions.
The vote — 221 to 201 — relied almost entirely on Democrats in the
Republican-controlled House to carry the measure and represented the first debt
ceiling increase since 2009 that was not attached to other legislation. Only 28
Republicans voted yes, and only two Democrats voted no.
Simply by holding the vote, Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio effectively ended a
three-year Tea Party-inspired era of budget showdowns that had raised the threat
of default and government shutdowns, rattled economic confidence and brought
serious scrutiny from other nations questioning Washington’s ability to govern.
In the process, though, Mr. Boehner also set off a series of reprisals from
fellow Republican congressmen and outside groups that showcased the party’s deep
internal divisions.
“He gave the president exactly what he wanted, which is exactly what the
Republican Party said we did not want,” said a Republican representative, Tim
Huelskamp of Kansas, who last year unsuccessfully tried to rally enough support
to derail Mr. Boehner’s re-election as speaker. “It’s going to really demoralize
the base.”
The vote was a victory for President Obama, Democrats and those Senate
Republicans who have argued that spending money for previously incurred
obligations was essential for the financial standing of the federal government.
“Tonight’s vote is a positive step in moving away from the political
brinkmanship that’s a needless drag on our economy,” Jay Carney, the White House
press secretary, said in a statement.
But outside Republican groups were sharply critical of the speaker. Both the
Club for Growth and Heritage Action for America, for example, had put out a “key
vote” alert urging members to vote against the measure.
“A clean debt ceiling is a complete capitulation on the speaker’s part and
demonstrates that he has lost the ability to lead the House of Representatives,
let alone his own party,” said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party
Patriots. “It is time for him to go.”
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, commended the speaker and
promised to pass the bill as soon as possible. “We’re happy to see the House is
legislating the way they should have legislated for a long time,” he said.
But Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said Tuesday in a statement that he
planned to object to any attempt to raise the debt ceiling with a minimum of 51
votes, instead of requiring 60 votes — meaning at least five Republicans would
have to vote with the full Democratic caucus — to get to final passage.
“If Republicans stand together, we can demand meaningful spending restraint to
help pull our nation back from the fiscal and economic cliff,” Mr. Cruz said.
Mr. Boehner stunned House Republicans on Tuesday morning when he dropped a
package that would have tied the debt ceiling increase to a repeal of cuts to
military retirement pensions that had been approved in December and announced he
would put a “clean” debt ceiling increase up for a vote.
Enough Republicans had balked at that package when it was presented Monday night
to convince the speaker he had no choice but to turn to the Democratic minority.
For Mr. Boehner it was a potentially momentous decision. Conservative activists,
including the Tea Party Patriots, FreedomWorks, L. Brent Bozell’s ForAmerica and
commentators on the website RedState.com are all circulating petitions to end
Mr. Boehner’s speakership.
And it was
Mr. Boehner who raised such high expectations around the debt limit. In 2011, he
established what has become known as the “Boehner Rule”: any debt ceiling
increase was supposed to be offset by an equivalent spending cut.
“This is a lost opportunity,” the speaker conceded. “We could have sat down and
worked together in a bipartisan manner to find cuts and reforms that are greater
than increasing the debt limit. I am disappointed, to say the least.”
The ramifications for Mr. Boehner are unclear. The speaker’s supporters
commended him for shepherding through an increase in the government’s borrowing
authority quickly and with as little damage as could be expected for his party,
for the economy and the country. They said President Obama left leaders no
choice once he dug in and refused to negotiate a deficit reduction deal attached
to a debt-ceiling increase.
For those few Republicans who supported the speaker, however, there were few
good lessons to draw from the vote. “I am disappointed we are not engaged in a
more serious debate today,” said Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, the only
Republican who spoke in favor of the debt limit bill. “But as disappointed as I
am, I cannot in good conscience let the Democrats’ refusal to engage lead to a
default” on the nation’s debt.
In a closed-door session Monday night, Representative Andy Harris, Republican of
Maryland, accused the speaker of being in the pockets of the insurance industry,
a charge that stirred outrage among many of his colleagues. Representative Tom
Cotton, who is seeking a Senate seat in Arkansas, told Republican leaders they
had put him into an impossible political position with his state’s conservative
voters. He would lose support if he voted for a debt ceiling increase, but he
would also lose support if he voted against the military pension restoration
then attached to the debt bill.
The 28 Republicans who supported the bill were a coalition cobbled together from
Republican leadership, moderates, and retiring members. Notably, however, not
all of the top Republican leadership team voted for the measure. Representatives
Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the No. 4 House Republican, and Paul D.
Ryan of Wisconsin, the party’s 2012 vice-presidential nominee, both voted “no.”
That left allies of the speaker fuming that political considerations had left
Republicans with no policy cover to accompany the debt ceiling increase.
Representative Ted Yoho, a freshman Republican from Florida who voted in his
first days in office to depose Mr. Boehner, was in a forgiving mood. “With that
many people and that many personalities in there, it’s hard to bring them all
together on a common cause,” he said.
Most Republicans appeared content to move beyond the debt ceiling fight, focus
on the 2014 campaign.
“Hopefully we can win the Senate, and we can have a completely different
conversation,” said Representative James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican
running for the Senate.
A version of
this article appears in print on February 12, 2014,
on page A1 of
the New York edition with the headline:
House Approves
Higher Debt Limit Without Condition.
House Approves Higher Debt Limit Without Condition,
NYT, 11.2.2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/us/politics/
boehner-to-bring-debt-ceiling-to-vote-without-policy-attachments.html
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