As Congress prepares to deal with issues like Planned Parenthood funding and another debt ceiling increase this fall, Politico reports Ohio Rep. John Boehner may be in his final days as Speaker of the House.
The first challenge to Boehner is expected in the coming weeks from the House floor via a “motion to vacate the chair” being led by Rep. Mark Meadows.
According to Politico:
Top lawmakers and aides in leadership expect Meadows or another Boehner antagonist to try and force a vote before the end of the year on whether to keep Boehner as speaker.
Boehner is nearly certain to lose the support of the 25 lawmakers who voted against him last time, plus a few more who’ve grown frustrated with him. But Democrats would also get a say, and should they vote to keep Boehner as speaker — opposing him would invite chaos, and it’s anyone’s guess who they’d have to deal with as his replacement — Boehner would likely retain the gavel until January 2017, unless he decided to call it quits sooner. Meadows did not force a vote in July, but GOP leadership assumes someone will this fall.
While he will likely survive a challenge from Meadows and House conservatives on the floor this fall, even Boehner allies believe the Speaker will have a hard time winning re-election to the post in 2017.
Some argue he should announce this will be his last term as Speaker, though that could harm House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid to succeed Boehner by enabling House Conservatives to organize a takeover of the Speaker’s chair.
Will Boehner survive? Even his friends in D.C. are unsure of what his future holds:
Though most Boehner allies believe he will be the one leading the charge over the next 15 months, his political future is in others’ hands more than ever before…Boehner allies privately acknowledge the daunting challenge. “Who knows?” one ally said when asked if Boehner could beat back a coup attempt. “I don’t know. I don’t know how you change this dynamic.
