DEVELOPMENTS
— At House Speaker John Boehner’s request, Senate leaders and Rep. Nancy Pelosi have been excluded from talks to avert a fiscal crisis, leaving it to Boehner and President Barack Obama alone to find a deal, congressional aides say. All sides, even the parties excluded, say clearing the negotiating room improves the chance of success.
— Obama on Thursday went to the home of a middle-income family in the Virginia suburbs of Washington to press for an extension of expiring middle-class tax cuts — and for the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts on incomes over $250,000. “Just to be clear, I’m not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2 percent,” Obama said.”But I do remain optimistic that we can get something done.”
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Republicans on Capitol Hill are split between hard-core conservatives and pragmatists in a battle for the soul and control of the party after unexpected election setbacks last month.
The struggle is evident in vehement disagreements over their response to the fiscal cliff and a leader asserting his power over wayward members. Among voters, polls warn that Americans would blame Republicans if economic chaos ensues, while conservative interest groups insist this is no time to compromise. And among GOP insiders, a brawl could be looming over who chairs the party.
House Speaker John Boehner, a 22-year Washington veteran whose instincts for compromise had been thwarted by the rise of the conservatives, is offering deals and punishing those who defy him. The conservatives are swinging back hard, publicly questioning Boehner’s leadership and offering reminders that they still have considerable financial and political muscle.
Four Republicans perceived as disloyal to Boehner have been kicked off committees, and the conservatives are angry.
“When one comes here and votes his conscience, and it’s not antithetical to the Republican platform, why should he suffer for it?” asked Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona. “The Republican cause, and the cause of freedom, is diminished.”
The rupture comes as the party begins charting a highly uncertain future.
Republicans were jolted on Election Day by losses few anticipated. Not only did President Barack Obama decisively win a new term, but the party lost seats in the Senate and the House.
The party leadership is far from secure. Former Rep. J.C. Watts, once the House’s highest-ranking African-American Republican, is being mentioned by some insiders as a possible challenger to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus when Priebus seeks another term next month.
Pragmatists have been slowly moving in a more conciliatory direction, with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, long regarded as a no-tax-increase hard-liner, the latest to suggest he could accept some higher rates in order to reach a budget deal with Obama, who won reelection on a pledge to increase taxes on the wealthy.
At the same time, Boehner has defied the hardcore conservatives. Despite their opposition to any new revenue, he and his leadership team Monday offered a deficit reduction package that included $800 billion derived from closing tax loopholes, limiting deductions and slowing offsetting changes in tax brackets. They booted the four Republicans off committees, and Boehner allies have been warning colleagues privately that more such punishment could be forthcoming.
Two of the booted lawmakers spoke out at a Heritage Foundation forum this week. Rep. Justin Amish of Michigan said Boehner’s move was “a slap in the face to all young people who are thinking of becoming Republican.” The action was a signal that “dissent will not be tolerated,” added Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas.
Though polls suggest voters would blame Republicans if there’s no deal, conservative groups argue that unless Republicans stick to long-held fiscal principles, the party will stand for nothing — and, they warn, it could face an uprising in 2014.
“You are entering a period of testing,” said a letter to congressional Republicans signed by about 100 conservative leaders. “The whole leftist apparatus is gearing up to panic you and to force you to cave in. Don’t do it.”
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After the committee assignment drama, the Club for Growth, which donates to the campaigns of conservative Republicans, warned that it “stands ready to make sure that Republican primary voters are also watching the voting patterns of the big-government crowd in the House GOP,” said Chris Chocola, president of the group.
But the pragmatists, generally veteran conservatives or those from swing districts, are well aware of the poll numbers, and they have been sending strong messages that they’re ready for compromise.
They would not dismiss the Boehner offer. “You’re going to have dissenters, but at the end of the day, this offer is better than no offer,” said Rep. Dennis Ross of Florida.
Some of the most conservative voices are also assuming gentler tones.
Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma makes it clear that he’s adamantly against higher taxes. And he wants to know more about the negotiations.
“We’re mostly concerned that no one can see in the cockpit,” he said.
But he won’t go that extra step and criticize Boehner or the leadership.
“That’s the nature of negotiations,” he said.
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