With a changing of the guard afoot at the U-S Capitol, Speaker John Boehner’s sudden resignation is revealing deep disagreements within the Republican Party...and it's on display in the Virginia congressional delegation.
Virginia seems to have just missed out on having one of the most powerful people in the nation hail from the state. Eric Cantor was the House Majority Leader and was largely seen as Speaker Boehner’s successor until he got ousted in a primary by Dave Brat. Republican Congressman Scott Rigell says the state is feeling Cantor’s loss now.
“There is no question that we miss Eric both on a personal level and also on the influence and prestige and just the direction that he could turn this institution the Majority Leader is a very powerful position.”
While the state looks to be missing out on a lot of clout, Congressman Brat doesn’t have any regrets for challenging and beating him.
“I’m glad I’m here.”
Brat is a member of a new group within the Republican Party called the House Freedom Caucus. The tea party tinged group has been successful in driving the Republican Party further to the right. When it comes to picking the party’s new slate of leaders, Brat is demanding candidates for the open positions meet a certain set of criteria.
“I’m going to support whoever put’s their principles down on paper ahead of time and those principles have to be the big deal. Balance budget, no amnesty, get rid of Obamacare.”
In January During the last vote for Speaker on the House floor, 25 Republicans opposed Boehner’s reelection, which made moderate Republicans bristle. They argue that when Republicans vote this week in a closed-door conference meeting, the entire party should come behind the candidate the conference chooses. Not so fast, says Brat even though he risks losing his committee posts if he defies the party.
“Oh no my principals are it doesn’t matter where I am. My principles are my principles. So if it’s in the conference on the floor.”
Brat opposed Boehner last time around. The only other Virginian to do that was Congressman Scott Rigell. While Brat is undecided, Rigell is behind California Congressman Kevin McCarthy because he trusts him to keep the government funded in a timely fashion, which he says wasn’t a priority for Speaker Boehner.
“My great concern about the House calendar and our failure to advance appropriation bills and what’s referred to as regular order and all the ramifications that come from that.”
But Rigell wants you to know that he didn’t oppose Boehner for ideological reasons, merely procedural ones. Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman shares those concerns. He’s demanding the next generation of Republican leaders need to learn from Boehner’s mistakes.
“I thought it was ridiculous that we didn’t adopt a budget on time. That we weren’t adopting appropriations bills on time that we had all of these showdown situations. It’s just not the way for this body to function.”
Virginia Congressman Morgan Griffith says he also hopes the new GOP leaders will allow the will of rank and file Republicans to stand, even if that means party leaders don’t get all they want.
“Look some bills will fail on the floor okay so be it. You know you don’t have to have a perfect record. Throw the bill up there let the legislative process work. You know let’s do it. If it gets out of committee it should be on the floor and I don’t see that a lot and it needs to happen more.”
Some more moderate Republicans are trying to convince incoming party leaders that there's a critical mass of lawmakers who want them to govern in the middle, but they're facing off against the vocal and energetic Tea Party wing of the GOP. Whoever wins the internal party fight could have implications for next year's presidential race.
