At the end of an incredibly boring written interview with Roll Call, Speaker Boehner provides one last non-responsive answer.
CQ Roll Call: Most political observers assume that you’ve already decided to hang up your cleats at the end of 2014. Some have told me that they wouldn’t be surprised if you called it quits earlier. Would you like to stick around long enough for the opportunity to serve as speaker under a Republican president in 2017?
Boehner: I’m in a fight to cut spending, create jobs, and — frankly — save the American Dream. I intend to lead that fight as Speaker of the House. And I’m far from done.
I take that as affirmation that he would not “like to stick around long enough for the opportunity to serve as speaker under a Republican president in 2017.” And who can blame him?
Last Wednesday, he watched sixteen members of his caucus defect on a rules vote. The only reason the resolution passed anyway was because many Democrats were hunkering down for a forecast snowmageddon that never quite manifested itself.
It’s considered extremely disloyal to vote against your own party’s rules. The problem is the size of this bloc. Boehner has already punished some of them by stripping them of their best committee assignments. But he simply can’t discipline sixteen members in that manner. He’s lost control of his caucus. He can’t negotiate with the president because his caucus won’t trust him or follow his lead. He’s basically given up, which is why some observers expect him to quit even before the next election. I continue to wonder why he has not resigned already.
However, unlike Roll Call, I haven’t noticed any consensus or even much discussion about Boehner “hanging up his cleats” anytime soon.
