WASHINGTON (AP) — The ups and downs of House Speaker John Boehner in 2013 dramatize the difficulties of managing a narrow Republican majority in the House.
Some associates and observers say the low point of Boehner’s year was almost a year ago, on Jan. 3, 2013, the first day of the 113th Congress.
With the Ohio Republican’s family watching from the House gallery, a dozen defiant GOP lawmakers refused to back his bid to be re-elected speaker.
The mini-rebellion fell short, but delivered an embarrassing rebuke from conservatives.
But by year’s end, he strengthened his position in his GOP caucus, standing up to tea party conservatives inside and outside the House, saying many of the hard-core conservatives were pushing Republicans to take positions too extreme, such as forcing a government shutdown in October.
Source: Associated Press
