Greg Sargent says the Speaker vote will leave John Boehner less able to credibly deliver his caucus’ votes on future deals with the President. Getting rid of earmarks is looking like a dumber move every day:
John Boehner just won reelection as Speaker of the House of Representatives, meaning he successfully defied the threat of a conservative uprising that never quite materialized. But the narrowness of Boehner’s victory — he won by 220 votes, only after a return to those who had abstained — bodes very badly for the prospects of any future cooperation between House Republicans and the White House, and by extension, for the prospects of cooperation in solving the country’s biggest problems.
Those prospects already looked pretty bleak in light of the debt ceiling mess of 2011 and the fiscal cliff debacle that just concluded. But with even bigger issues looming to be resolved, today’s confirmation of the narrowness of Boehner’s support means the worst may yet lie ahead.
“What you’re going to see now is a passive-aggressive majority,” Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein told me just now. Ornstein said the vote would leave Boehner “weaker,” adding: “He’s done negotiating with the president.”
