As Scott Wong of The Hill reported Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner experienced a fitful night’s sleep last week, during which time the Ohio Republican had a nightmare about a “hand” that “came reaching, pulling,” and, ultimately preventing his dream-self from making a needed escape. “I was trying to get out and I couldn’t get out,” Boehner related.
A bad dream, eh? Ah, well, probably just one of those examples of sleep knitting up our raveled sleeve of care by subconsciously processing roughly remembered anxieties in order to purge them. Nothing to worry about. Unless, of course, it was a harrowing and prophetic vision of an inescapable future!
And, as Wong reports, maybe it is: “Boehner’s nightmare could become reality if House Republicans fail to rally around their nominee for Speaker in a floor vote set for Oct. 29.”
My, oh my. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that Boehner, still feeling buoyant from Pope Francis’ visit to Congress, made the decision that his moment had come: Time to retire and pass the responsibility for supervising the House Republicans’ frequently fractious caucus into another member’s hands.
That meant that whatever the future held for the GOP in the House, it was going to happen without him. Or, maybe a better way of putting it — given some of his colleagues’ propensity for imagining the speakership as a position with vastly more power then it actually has — is that from Boehner’s perspective, whatever the future held, it was going to be somebody else’s problem. (Read more from “The Nightmare Scenario That John Boehner Fears the Most” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-08 00:53:332016-04-11 10:57:36The Nightmare Scenario That John Boehner Fears the Most
By the end of this week we will know if there is any constructive purpose to the existence of the House Freedom Caucus. If they can’t block the less articulate version of John Boehner from ascending to the speakership they as might as well close up shop.
As we noted last week, the problems with the Republican Party run far deeper than the woes of John Boehner. They certainly will not be solved with this leadership election. But one thing is clear: The GOP base is demanding a change in course, and simply promoting another rung of repudiated leaders—the deputy arsonists of Boehner’s five-year inferno—up one notch on the totem pole will not satisfy those demands. An outcome that allows McCarthy and Scalise, baggage and all, to climb the ladder of leadership is unacceptable.
So what is the end game? There are, after all, only a few dozen conservative members and they lack the votes to elect one of their own to the speakership.
Conservative members must understand that this was never about electing one of their own. It’s about using their leverage to overrule the next in line and force a complete change in leadership, however imperfect the new candidates might be. With more than 30 members committed to opposing McCarthy, the House Freedom Caucus can use its leverage to veto this colossal mistake.
It is quite clear that McCarthy will garner well over 124 votes in the conference election on Thursday, securing a majority of the GOP conference in support of his election on the House floor. But given that all the Democrats will presumably vote for Pelosi, if all of the Republicans who vote for Jason Chaffetz or Daniel Webster in conference commit to doing the same on the House floor, McCarthy will be denied the majority. This will have the effect of delaying the election and adding another dimension of significance to this race. As conservatives, we all understand that choice and competition perfect the outcome, and by making it clear that the“next in line” is unacceptable, the Freedom Caucus can open the door for even more candidates to toss their hats in the ring, lay out their vision for the House and what issues are important to them. A drawn out speaker election, no matter the ultimate result, is a win for conservatives who wish to be heard.
At this point, chaos is our best friend. No conservative believes that we are one leadership election from the Promised Land. What ails this party cannot be cured without electing a principled and fearless conservative to the presidency. But for now, the least we can do is elect a vanguard until 2017, someone who will focus on issues conservatives care about and who does not owe his position to the existing corrupt system, but to the conservatives who created a path for an unlikely upstart.
Some conservatives believe Kevin McCarthy will toss them a few bones as it relates to “process” rules in return for obtaining their support. But how could the man who artfully worked the existing system to his advantage—who thrives off the power structure we seek to upend—ever work for us?
What sort of insanity has possessed those who would give McCarthy and Scalise, the very leaders who shepherded the Planned Parenthood funding through the House, an immediate promotion?
House conservatives were elected for a reason and it’s time for them to use their leverage to fulfill the mandate from their constituents to change leadership. If they think McCarthy qualifies as change they will learn the hard way from their voters that he is merely a cloddish version of everything they despise in Washington. (For more from the author of “Leadership End Game: Anyone but McCarthy” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-07 13:47:412016-04-11 10:57:39Leadership End Game: Anyone but McCarthy
With less than four weeks left in his decades-long congressional career, Boehner is maneuvering to shape the House Republican Conference on his way out. His goal is to leave the conference he helped build —with countless hours of grunt work and hundreds of millions of dollars in fundraising — in the strongest position possible.
He has all but officially endorsed Rep. Kevin McCarthy to succeed him, giving the majority leader enough of a nod to express confidence but short of the full-throated endorsement that could sink him. Boehner tried to lure a candidate into the majority leader race against one of his own top lieutenants, a move aimed at bolstering McCarthy’s right flank.
And on Monday, he delayed for several weeks the election of the party’s next majority leader and whip. This move gives the conference time to reconsider their internal rules, and could quash arguments that the leadership is rushing to a vote.
None of the moves are seismic, but they are meaningful. And one man in particular is feeling the brunt: Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the current whip who is running for majority leader. (Read more from “Boehner Making Waves on His Way to the Exit” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-10-05 22:17:462016-04-11 10:57:42Boehner Making Waves on His Way to the Exit
Departing Speaker of the House John Boehner (R., Ohio) offered parting words about some members of the Republican Party before he steps down: “Beware of false prophets,” including Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) . . .
Boehner, who was sharply criticized by Cruz and other more conservative congressional members for what they called a greater willingness to make deals with Democrats than fight for their principles, was asked by Face The Nation host John Dickerson whether he felt those critics were “unrealistic about what can be done in government.”
“Absolutely, they’re not realistic!” Boehner said. “But, you know, the Bible says ‘Beware of false prophets.’ And there are people out there spreading noise about how much can get done. I mean, this whole idea that we’re going to shut down the government to get rid of Obamacare in 2013. This plan never had a chance.”
Boehner famously slammed hardline Tea Party members who led an effort to defund Obamacare that ultimately caused the government shutdown in October 2013. He exclaimed, “Are you kidding me?” when he relayed that some told him they never thought that strategy would work, seeing as President Obama was not about to sign a bill defunding his own law.
“We’ve got groups here in town, members of the House and Senate here in town, who whipped people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things they know are never going to happen,” he said. (Read more from “Boehner Warning About a GOP Candidate: ‘Beware of False Prophets'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-28 00:50:422016-04-11 10:57:58Boehner Warning About a GOP Candidate: ‘Beware of False Prophets’ [+video]
By Manu Raju and Deirdre Walsh. House Speaker John Boehner on Friday seized control of an ending that was beginning to feel inevitable.
Boehner had wanted to end his run last year, but was concerned about destabilizing the House Republican caucus. He was ready to announce his resignation on his birthday this November. But Friday, one day after the emotional, historic visit by Pope Francis to Capitol Hill, Boehner found his moment.
“I decided today is the day I’m going to do this, simple as that,” Boehner said at a Capitol Hill press conference, saying his decision came after a night of sleep and prayers.
The decision marked a tumultuous end to Boehner’s nearly six-year tenure leading the fractured Republican caucus, a time marked by repeated fiscal clashes with the White House, failed deal-makings with President Barack Obama and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, but also a rare bipartisan accord on trade and the historic papal visit.
Boehner was elevated to the speakership thanks to the power of tea party candidates in 2010 and then limited by what he could accomplish because of them. The conservative bloc of lawmakers consistently pressed Boehner to take a harder line with Obama and Democrats, a strategy Boehner, a consummate dealmaker, did not always embrace. (Read more from “Why John Boehner Is Resigning” HERE)
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John Boehner Will Resign From Congress
By Jennifer Steinhauer. Speaker John A. Boehner, an Ohio barkeeper’s son who rode a conservative wave to one of the highest positions in government, said Friday he would relinquish his gavel and resign from Congress, undone by the very Republicans who swept him into power.
Mr. Boehner, 65, made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning as lawmakers struggled to avert a government shutdown next week, a possibility made less likely by his decision.
Mr. Boehner told almost no one of his decision before making it Friday morning. “So before I went to sleep last night, I told my wife, I said, ‘You know, I might just make an announcement tomorrow,’ ” Mr. Boehner said at a news conference in the Capitol. “This morning I woke up, said my prayers, as I always do, and thought, ‘This is the day I am going to do this.’ ”
His downfall again highlighted the sinewy power of a Republican Party faction whose anthem is often to oppose government action. It also made vivid the increasingly precarious nature of a job in which the will and proclivities of a politically divisive body must be managed. No House speaker since Thomas P. O’Neill Jr., who held the gavel from 1977 to 1986, has left the job willingly.
For Mr. Boehner, who has been pressured throughout his tenure to push for deeper spending cuts and more aggressive policy changes than were possible with President Obama in the White House, seemed both exhausted by the fight and yet at peace with his final move: to leave rather than face a potentially humiliating fight within his party. (Read more from this story HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-26 02:07:262016-04-11 10:57:59Why John Boehner Is Resigning
Today, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) announced his resignation. While this might have come as a surprise to his colleagues, it should come as no surprise to Republican voters who have been consistently let down by Boehner’s commitment to passing Obama’s agenda and caving on conservative principles whenever given the chance. Boehner’s stepping down symbolizes a tremendous victory for conservatives everywhere.
While Boehner alleges he was always intending to leave after two terms, it’s no surprise his record of capitulation played a part in this decision.
Here are the Top 10 times John Boehner massively caved:
1.) Boehner pushed through the budget busting Ryan-Murray budget deal which ended the mandatory spending cuts of the sequester. In order to make it happen, he violated a central promise of the 2010 election cycle, that he would allow three days for people to read legislation before the vote. The budget was released and voted on in about 36 hours.
2.) Throughout 2015, Boehner blocked religious liberty legislation from coming to the floor of the House in an effort to avoid confrontation with the President.
3.) In 2015, Boehner pushed through Trade Promotion Authority legislation for the Trans Pacific Partnership. Given this president’s penchant for implementing major policies without Congress, there is a widespread fear that Obama would use these trade agreements to pursue liberal policies, such as changes to our immigration system, labor laws, and global warming regulations.
4.) In a backroom deal, Boehner negotiated with Nancy Pelosi to increase the nation’s debt by $500 billion with a massive increase in Medicare policy, given the innocuous sounding name of “Doc Fix.” With this bill Boehner failed to address the underlying problems in healthcare entitlements and in true back room deal fashion, included several extraneous provisions designed to buy votes.
5.) In 2014, Boehner made a big show of being against President Obama’s executive amnesty. At the end of the day, Boehner, hoping to avoid confrontation, funded Obama’s plan to the tune of $2.5 billion.
6.) In his close to five years as Speaker, Boehner has been just as responsible for growing the nation’s debt as President Obama. He has not used the power of the purse to curtail spending. Perhaps the most egregious debt limit increase was the one that allowed the debt to increase by an infinite amount for the period of one year from February 2014 to March 2015.
7.) Boehner has repeatedly pushed for votes to reauthorize the crony capitalist Export-Import bank. The failure of his plan in 2015 to extend the life of this program was the first chink in his armor.
8.) Boehner, against the objections of conservatives, pushed through a reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is being used by the Obama Administration to de facto enact a nationwide curriculum known as Common Core. (Conservative Review)
9.) Boehner led the effort to bailout the Highway Trust Fund to the tune of $1.8 billion in 2014. For years the Highway Trust Fund has spent more than it has taken in through the federal gas tax. Rather than addressing badly needed fundamental reforms, this legislation papered over the problem with dubious accounting procedures and tax increases to justify higher spending while still leaving the Highway Trust Fund on a path to insolvency.
10.) When it really mattered, Boehner caved instead of standing up for the most vulnerable in our society. He made a show of defunding Planned Parenthood, but would not fight to send the President a bill that ends the $500 million payment in federal that goes to an organization that lets born alive babies die on cold metal tables, then harvests their organs. This was the final cave that finally undid his speakership.
(For more from the author of “Top 10 Times John Boehner Massively Caved” please click HERE)
After conservatives everywhere, including Conservative Review, consistently pounded the drum calling on Speaker John Boehner to vacate his chair after his routine commitment to blocking conservative policy and passing Obama’s agenda without little to no resistance, today marks the day that the voices of conservative voters was heard.
It’s often said that one man with conviction constitutes a majority. The low-key yet resolute conservative from the west end of North Carolina has demonstrated this aphorism in spectacular fashion.
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) introduced the resolution to fire Boehner on July 28, immediately preceding the congressional recess. At the time, the media and even fellow conservatives ridiculed him for not informing them and better planning the idea. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) had this to say about his fellow conservative: “It took a lot of us by surprise, and I feel like any leadership discussions among Republicans should be with Republicans and not empower Nancy Pelosi to exploit the process.” K Street hack, Ron Bonjean said Meadows was a “lone wolf republican with gripes against leadership.” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) pouted, “the Speaker’s leadership up to this point has not warranted this action by Mr. Meadows.”
As Conservative Review noted at the time, this was in fact a brilliant strategy. By letting this resolution hang over Boehner’s head during the August recess and have the fight crystalize along with the budget battle in September, Boehner would be boxed in and would lack the votes to survive a motion to vacate the chair.
Now Boehner is announcing that he plans to retire from Congress at the end of October.
This fight really began in January when a group of brave conservatives had the guts to challenge Boehner on the floor. Although they came up short in the inside game, they won the hearts and minds of the people when tens of thousands of calls flooded the capitol switchboard demanding that Boehner be fired. Make no mistake about it, this is a direct reflection of the people and an example of democracy at its best. The members were only spawned to action by the popular sentiment of their constituents. However, it took a specific plan of action – a live legislative vehicle on the table – in order to light the fuse. And that fuse was lit by Meadows.
During the January fight, Conservative Review was the only entity to score the vote for Speaker of the House. We noted that no other conservative priority would see the light of day were Boehner to remain in power and that this would be the most important vote of the session. Ultimately, that vote was won by conservatives, but it took nine months of patience.
Conservatives who are feeling so disheartened and disenfranchised should take solace from the latest developments. When you fight for a cause when it is initially unpopular, it almost always succeeds in the end if the cause is just. The people of Virginia tossed out the establishment Majority leader, Eric Cantor, and now the constituents of all the districts have had a hand in forcing Boehner into retirement. If Mitch McConnell had any semblance of intellectual honesty, he’d follow suit.
In this day of mass communications and the internet, the truth will eventually get out. The people can only be disenfranchised by the oligarchy for so long. During the month of September, as we celebrate the Constitution, that cherished document now had the last say. Those who sought to take the power of the purse away from the people were denied the power to continue ruling. Now it’s time for members to demand a new leader who will respect the awesome power the Founders vested in the House of Representatives. (For more from the author of “Meadows Wins, Boehner Resigns” please click HERE)
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) is bracing for what could be the toughest weeks of his speakership as several dozen conservatives in his party are threatening to topple him unless he is more ferocious with Democrats during the upcoming fiscal showdowns.
That internal feud has increased the chances that Washington, for the second time in two years, could stumble into a shutdown of the federal government.
The speaker’s lieutenants are openly girding for battle with the small but influential bloc of anti-Boehner conservatives who have signaled that if Boehner cuts any deal that they don’t like with congressional Democrats and President Obama, they could seek to remove him from the speaker’s post. It is a threat that Boehner and his allies are taking seriously.
“The people considering this are being totally irresponsible, but Boehner’s guys, we’re getting ready for whatever may come — not out of fear, but with exasperation about what some Republicans are willing to do to their own party,” said Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who is part of the speaker’s circle of unofficial advisers.
Talk of unseating Boehner is not new, but this latest uprising is getting a jolt from the Republican presidential campaign, in which anti-establishment sentiment has driven two non-politicians, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, to the front of the pack. (Read more from “Boehner and His Allies Prepare Fall Battle With Conservative GOP Critics” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-09-16 23:54:002015-09-16 23:54:00Boehner and His Allies Prepare Fall Battle With Conservative GOP Critics
Rank-and-file GOP House members are now confronted with an important question: do they want to head into a presidential election with a leader who is unpopular with their own voters and hated by Independents?
Gallup released a poll today showing that just 23% of Americans view Speaker John Boehner favorably. A clear majority have an unfavorable view of him.
What is more revealing is that Boehner is under water in terms of approval with his own party.
Just 37% of Republicans have a favorable view of the Speaker, while 42% view him unfavorably. His numbers are atrocious among Independents – 17%-57%. Gallup notes that McConnell is also unusually unpopular with his own party. His only saving grace is that so many people have never heard of him. However, as witnessed by the spontaneous applause at the GOP debate when Sen. Ted Cruz called him a liar, the more Republicans know about him the more they dislike him.
When was the last time sitting GOP congressional leaders were this unpopular with their own party? When Gallup asked the same question about then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi in October 2010, although she was also very unpopular overall, only 22% of Democrats viewed her unfavorably compared to 42% of Republicans souring on Boehner this year.
Why are Republicans so dispirited about their leaders? What about Independents? Is it because they are too conservative and too aggressive in opposing Obama’s agenda? Clearly not. As indicated by the recent Pew poll, this Congress is rated much lower than the Gingrich-era Congress, even though the ’95 Republicans were more spirited in pushing a bold agenda against a more popular and less radical Democrat president.
Had this dynamic unfolded anywhere in the private sector, the corporate board would have fired a CEO like John Boehner long ago. Sadly, in the public sector, and particularly in the Republican Party, failure often seems to be a resume enhancer.
Those House conservatives who are reticent about the effort to fire Boehner are not only responsible for the devastating Obama policies that will go unchecked, they must now contend with the reality of losing the White House because of unpopular leadership. (Re-posted with permission from the author, “New Poll: Boehner Under Water With GOP Voters”, originally appeared HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-13 01:44:352015-08-13 01:44:35New Poll: Boehner Under Water With GOP Voters
By Daniel Horowitz. Yesterday, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), embarked on the most important mission any self-described conservative representative can undertake as a member of this Congress.
He filed a motion to vacate the chair, which commences the process through which a group of roughly 30 conservatives can remove John Boehner from the Speaker’s chair and restore some measure of deterrent against Obama’s impending transformational agenda during his last 18 months in office. In other words, Meadows pulled the trigger on the one thing that actually matters.
We live in an unprecedented time with a president that is hell-bent on dismantling our values, borders, economy, criminal justice system, and national security. At the same time, there has been absolutely no opposition to any of Obama’s policies from the GOP leadership. It is obvious Obama knows it. There’s a sense of desperation and hopelessness among Republicans across the nation. Mark Meadows has finally given those people a voice.
As long as both houses of Congress are controlled by those who are given to every whim of this imperial president, there will be no deterrent against his malfeasance – no matter how unlawful, no matter how toxic to the fabric of this nation. There is nothing stopping Obama from commuting sentences and pardoning criminals, essentially emptying the federal prisons in his final year. There is nothing stopping him from abusing his executive waiver authority to let in even more illegal immigrants. There is nothing to deter him from embracing even more of our nation’s enemies in his final months. Boehner and McConnell have ruled out using the one deterrent against such behavior – the power of the purse.
Conservatives have many good ideas to use Congress as both a check on Obama’s power and an effective messaging tool as it relates to Iran, illegal immigration, religious liberty, and a host of other fundamental issues. However, not a single one of those issues will be fought even half-heartedly until conservatives reassert a modicum of control over at least one house of Congress. And that will not happen as long as John Boehner is occupying the Speaker’s chair.
This is where Mark Meadows comes in, by introducing a resolution to vacate the chair.
According to House rules, any member can offer a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair and force a de facto ‘vote of no confidence’ in the Speaker. Under normal circumstances, an individual member has no power to force a vote on any bill or resolution, but the motion to vacate is “privileged.” Meadows, however, filed his motion in a “non-privileged form,” which means the motion does not require immediate consideration. There is nothing Boehner can do to block the motion.
The genius of this strategy is that there is no pressure on the conservative side like there was in January when they had to muster the 30 votes at a specific date – the day of the Speaker’s election. Meadows intends for this resolution to hang over Boehner’s head for as long or as short as needed to gather the votes. This will place enormous pressure on members headed into the August recess to declare their support or opposition for John Boehner.
Remember the tens of thousands of phone calls that flooded the capitol switchboard in January? And that was before the series of great betrayals over the past few months.
Some members will attempt to weasel their way out of their responsibility by claiming that there is no alternative. But that is nonsense. As soon as Boehner is deposed, there will be plenty of options on the table. Last time, Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), tossed his hat into the ring for the Speaker nomination. While Webster is not necessarily a member who is well-established in the conservative movement, he respects regular order and would at least give conservatives a seat at the table in setting the agenda. There’s no reason that someone like him won’t toss his hat into the ring this time.
More importantly, Boehner must be removed from his position of power because he (along with McConnell) is seriously jeopardizing the chance to win back the White House. By obfuscating the party divide and ignoring every harmful and unpopular action of this president, Republican leaders are artificially inflating Obama’s popularity and depressing potential conservative turnout in the upcoming election.
Every GOP representative will go home this August to his or her district and extol the virtues of their service and how they oppose illegal immigration, the Iran alliance, Planned Parenthood, and are deeply concerned about the growing threats to religious liberty. They will also tout some legislation they have introduced to tackle these important issues. But none of this will matter if they fail to categorically commit to dethroning John Boehner. Unless he is removed from the Speaker’s office, not a single conservative priority will be championed nor will a single imperial act of Obama’s be countermanded in a meaningful way. Nothing else matters other than the Speaker’s vote.
Yesterday was Mark Meadows’s Moses moment, when Moses went to the gate of the camp and declared, “Whoever is for the Lord, [let him come] to me!” [Exodus 32:26].
It will soon become apparent who the Levites of our generation are, and we will be keeping track. (Re-posted with permission from the author, “Mark Meadows Stands up to Boehner”, originally appeared HERE)
Natalie Johnson of the Daily Signal provides some insight into Rep. Mark Meadows’ quality personality and unique experiences:
1. Meadows’ attempt to unseat Speaker Boehner is not the first time he has rebelled against Washington’s power players. Last month, Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, temporarily removed Meadows from his subcommittee chairmanship for voting against a motion to advance President Obama’s trade bill.
2. Meadows was a key player in the 2013 government shutdown, sending a letter to Boehner just eight months after taking office encouraging him to halt any appropriations bill including Obamacare funding. CNN went as far as to call Meadows the “architect” of and “man behind” the shutdown.
3. He has a cordial reputation on Capitol Hill. Both Democrats and Republicans call him one of the “nicest guys” in D.C., Politico reports, and The Washington Post dubbed him the “friendliest guy in the House.”
4. His affable personality shows in interviews. Just days after Chaffetz stripped his chairmanship, Meadows told The Washington Post, “I love people.” “Every single week, I try to find at least seven different people with something unique and admirable about them, and I share that with them. D.C. is not going to change me on that, even today.”
5. Meadows was first elected to Congress in 2012 following redistricting in North Carolina, which shifted his district from “slightly” Republican to solid.
6. His seat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee allowed him to play a lead role in pushing Congress to investigate the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups.
7. His position also launched him as central in forcing the resignation of Office of Personnel Management Director Katherine Archuleta in July following the department’s massive data breach exposing 21.5 million Social Security numbers.
8. He grew up in Tampa Bay, Florida, describing himself as a “fat nerd” during his early years. He decided to lose weight after he attempted to ask a girl out only to be shot down. “I went home and looked in the mirror and said, ‘You’re fat.’ So, I started almost immediately to run a mile to lose weight,” Meadows recalled.
9. He caught the attention of his wife, Debbie, in high school after he lost weight, becoming “unrecognizable” even to her—she thought he was a new student. They both graduated from the University of South Florida.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-07-30 14:35:072016-04-11 10:58:18Mark Meadows Stands up to Boehner
