GOPers planning to vote no on debt deal still praise Boehner's work
House Republicans who plan to oppose the deficit deal in an expected vote Monday evening carefully divorced their opposition to the bill from criticism of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
"I think the Speaker's done a very good job here," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who nevertheless said that he would not vote for the deal. "I applaud what the Speaker's trying to do ... but I've got some problems with it."
{mosads}"I think as we look back, history will show that Speaker Boehner literally did stick his neck out a long, long way. He's been working furiously on this for a long time," Chaffetz said on FOX News.Â
Boehner said last week that he “stuck his neck out a mile†to try and reach a grand deficit-reduction deal with the White House.
"John Boehner did a great job," Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) said on CNN.Â
"I can't vote for this," he added in the same interview.
Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) said on Fox News that he hadn't dec! ided yet whether he would vote for the plan, but he hadn't found a reason yet to vote yes.Â
Gohmert, who voted against Boehner's own two-stage proposal in the House last week, stressed then that he was "not voting against my Speaker, for heaven's sake. But I am voting against a bill."
Boehner has done a "great job" pushing this debate, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.), another no vote, said on MSNBC Monday morning. He also said that he believed Boehner could get enough votes to pass the bill.Â
Most Republicans making the rounds in media on Monday who said they would vote no also said they thought that the proposal would pass without them.
Last week, Boehner's political neck was on the line even further when he had to scramble for Republican votes on his own deficit proposal. Democrats tried to exploit the possible fissure between House Republicans and their Speaker, particularly pointing to friction between GOP leadership and the Tea Party movement.
Leaders of Tea Party organizations, who were unhappy with Boehner's plan for not going far enough to cut spending, adding annual spending caps or requiring passage of a balanced-budget amendment, also indicated last week that Boehner's unpopular bill might have compromised their support.Â
Phillips Judson, the founder of Tea Party Nation, suggested on the organization's website that Boehner should be challenged in his next primary.
Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, said that in a recent poll of their members, four-fifths are not satisfied with Boehner and nearly three-quarters would like to have a new Speaker of the ! House.
"Maybe we should see about a different Speaker right away," she said on July 27.Â
However, Judson told The Hill that making threats is "not the Tea Party way. We're not a mob. We believe in a simple idea: That representatives work for us. So when we have something we want done, we tell people: Call your representative up."Â
Judson said that his organization would not campaign against Boehner or other Republicans on the basis of a debt-limit vote.
Similarly, Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), another no-vote on Boehner's bill, said last Wednesday on MSNBC, "I don't believe [Boehner's] speakership is on the line. I just disagree with this particular bill."
Neither Republicans nor Democrats seemed completely satisfied with the deficit proposal announced by President Obama and Congressional leaders on Sunday night. Many Republican leaders used Boehner's own description when they called the plan "not perfect." A large portion of the Republican caucus! , which Democrats have described as out of Boehner's control, ! has more or less reluctantly given their support to the proposal, which is expected to sail through the Senate with bipartisan support if it makes it through the House on Monday evening.
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