Retaliation, Boehner-Style: Tea Party Rebels Stripped of Leadership, Benefits

By Alex Pappas. Speaker of the House John Boehner is apparently punishing Republicans who voted against his re-election Tuesday, despite previously saying he would not do so.

Reps. Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent are both losing their seats on the House Rules Committee, Politico reported Tuesday evening. Both Florida Republicans voted for Webster instead of Boehner earlier in the day.

Such moves seem to contradict recent statements made by Boehner and his office.

We asked last week if any Republicans who voted against Boehner would be punished, spokesman Michael Steel told The Daily Caller by email: “Boehner has said publicly that there will be no retribution for ‘no’ votes.” (Read more about how Boehner is punishing the tea party rebels HERE)

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Strange Twist: Boehner’s Re-Election Assured by Mario Cuomo’s Death

By Dana Milbank. John Boehner won reelection as speaker of the House on Tuesday with the help of an unlikely ally: Mario Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of New York.

Astute readers may have noticed that Cuomo is currently deceased. He died on New Year’s Day and was buried Tuesday — and thus, quite inadvertently, did he help to stack the deck for the Ohio Republican to keep the speaker’s gavel in the 114th Congress.

Dana Milbank writes about political theater in the nation’s capital. He joined the Post as a political reporter in 2000. View Archive

Twenty-five conservatives — more than 10 percent of the Republican caucus — rebelled against their leader on the first day of the new Congress. It was the largest revolt against a House speaker in more than a century, and the rebels were within striking distance of the 29 votes they would have needed to deny Boehner the speakership — if all sitting members of the House voted.

But more than two dozen were missing when Congress convened at noon, a few because of snow-related travel delays but most of them Democratic members of the New York delegation who were attending Cuomo’s funeral. Because the speaker is elected based on the majority of those voting, this reduced the number of votes Boehner needed from about 218 to 205 — and the conservative rebellion fizzled before it ever had a chance. (Read more from this story HERE)

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