Boehner rules with an iron fist and is ‘punishing’ these members because of ‘disloyalty’, not ideology, he says:
BUZZFEED – Some Tea Party–friendly Republicans complained this week that they were “purged” from key leadership positions, but Speaker John Boehner responded in a closed-door conference Wednesday that the members’ sin wasn’t “ideology” — it was disloyalty.
The House Steering Committee decision to unseat four members “was not done lightly,” Boehner told his conference, according to a Republican in the meeting. “This is something the Committee took seriously, and hopes never to have to do again,” the source said Boehner said.
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“The Committee’s decision had nothing to do with ideology. For those suggesting otherwise, I’d respectfully suggest that you look at some of the people the Steering Committee put in charge of committees. I’d also suggest you look at some of the members who were added to the committees by the Steering Committee. If you do that and come away with the conclusion that there was a ‘conservative purge,’ I’d be interested hearing the rationale,” Boehner added, according to the source.
The decision to tank the slots from Reps. Justin Amash, Tim Huelskamp, and David Schweikert has enraged many conservative activists, and the members have pointedly claimed they were pushed out because of their ideological leanings on abortion, gay marriage, and federal spending.
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But according to leadership aides, the decision had little to do with their views and more with what one aide described as the trio “not knowing how to be team players.”
Huelskamp and Amash have repeatedly been thorns in the side of leadership and, in some cases, their colleagues — in fact, one aide pointed out that Huelskamp voted against Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget.
And Schweikert engendered significant anger amongst elements of leadership during his reelection bid against fellow Republican Ben Quayle. He is also widely considered by leadership to be the source of an embarrassing story this summer about Republican members’ drunken swimming session in the Sea of Galilee.
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UPDATE: Schweikert has denied being the leak of the Sea of Galilee story, as have the reporters who originally broke the story.
I would also add that according to my research, Huelskamp voted YEA on Paul Ryan’s budget, not NO as reported in this article. So if that’s his crime, his punishers don’t have a clue.
In other news, CNN is reporting that Boehner now says the ‘rich’ will have to pay more taxes. Ugh.