Who Will Replace Paul Ryan as Speaker? These Are the Contenders.

House Republicans have been in various stages of chaos — both healthy and unhealthy — ever since retaking control of the chamber in 2010. Speaker John Boehner was constantly trying to cut deals with President Obama, usually giving the President most or all of what he wanted, so Republicans wanted him gone. Boehner resigned in 2015 and is now a high-paid lobbyist, while his lieutenant, former Majority Leader Eric Cantor, was taken out in a shocking primary defeat. Their clearest successor at the time was Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, but he stumbled quickly and took himself out of the running.

Why John Boehner Hates Ted Cruz

Big on my Facebook page is the new Mother Jones piece detailing why Washington insiders think Ted Cruz is a “jerk,” in the magazine’s words. Here’s an example from former Speaker John Boehner: Fighting words: The former speaker of House has called Cruz “that jackass” and a “false prophet.” The beef: Where to start? Cruz has served as a cheerleader for the House Freedom Caucus, the band of arch-conservatives who made Boehner’s job all but impossible. He trod so heavily on Boehner’s turf that he earned the nickname “Speaker Cruz.” Cruz pushed for a government shutdown over defunding Planned Parenthood, and then he accused Boehner

Cruz Is Right: When You Fight, the Polls Change

Ted Cruz made an important point in an interview with Chuck Todd yesterday: the political dynamic changes when leaders are willing to fight on an issue.  This is why the truce strategy, in general, on social issues is so idiotic. It not only assumes people will keep voting for you if you do nothing and say nothing when a fight emerges; it assumes there are no voters to be gained, and no minds to be changed, by elevating the issue to one you are willing to fight about. If not on defunding Planned Parenthood, then surely on the late-term abortion

Rand Paul: Name Calling Is the Reason Ted Cruz Can’t Get Anything Done

On Fox News Radio last week, Senator Rand Paul was asked about presidential rival Senator Ted Cruz’s failure to get a vote on defunding Planned Parenthood from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  Paul said that while he also disagreed with McConnell’s Planned Parenthood strategy, the “snub” was an understandable result of Cruz insulting leadership in public: Ted has chosen to make this really personal and chosen to call people dishonest in leadership and call them names which really goes against the decorum and also against the rules of the senate, and as a consequence he can’t get anything done legislatively.

Rubio Rips Boehner, Says It’s Time For ‘A New Generation of Leadership’

On Friday, House Speaker John Boehner surprised the world by announcing his resignation from Congress. Senator Marco Rubio had the fortune of announcing that breaking news to a group of conservatives on Friday at the Values Voter Summit, and he was met by a long round of applause. Rubio seized on that anti-Boehner, anti-establishment sentiment in his speech. From USA Today: “I’m not here today to bash anyone,” the 44-year-old first-term senator from Florida said. “ But the time has come to turn the page and allow a new generation of leadership in this country.” Only moments before, Rubio was blasting

Don’t Cry For Me, Speaker Boehner

You forgot or never realized, sir, that the Speakership of the United States House of Representatives is not a position of stability, nor of stasis. It is the least, rather than the most-protected, seat in that great chamber o’er which you presided (but which you failed to lead) these last four years. That chair and the nifty gavel that accompanies it are signs and symbols of the authority and responsibility entrusted to you directly by the several representatives of the partisan majority of which you are a single member, and indirectly by the people of the United States of America

Boehner Out as Speaker

Speaker John Boehner made headlines this morning by making a surprise announcement: he will be retiring from Congress at the end of October. More from The New York Times: Speaker John A. Boehner, under intense pressure from conservatives in his party, will resign one of the most powerful positions in government and give up his House seat at the end of October, throwing Congress into chaos as it tries to avert a government shutdown. Mr. Boehner, who was first elected to Congress in 1990, made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning. The Ohio representative

Fiorina: Boehner and McConnell Should Go If They Can’t Do These Three Things

At a campaign stop in Bedford, N.H., on Sunday, Carly Fiorina said House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are “good men” who have been “captured by the status quo.” According to TIME, Fiorina identified three things that if Boehner and McConnell can’t accomplish, they need to be shown the door: 1.) Pass a ban on abortions after 20 weeks and defund Planned Parenthood. The 20 week abortion ban is supported by a large majority of Americans, including women. In January, House Republican leadership backed down from a vote on the bill on the 42nd anniversary of Roe v.

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