Boehner, right, said he won’t hold grudges toward those who voted against him for speaker.
Speaker John A. Boehner told GOP members Friday morning that he isn’t seeking vengeance after a fledgling coup attempt made his re-election as speaker more eventful than predicted.
“I don’t hold grudges, and my door is always open to you,” the Ohio Republican told the defectors in his first closed-door meeting with his conference, after thanking those who had voted against him. Boehner received 220 votes for speaker on Thursday, when nine Republicans voted for someone else and three abstained from voting.
The conference then ratified committee assignments previously chosen by the GOP Steering Committee.
Several of those who abstained or voted against Boehner had been granted plum committee assignments, including Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., who was awarded a spot on the Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Raúl R. Labrador, R-Idaho, who was granted a spot he requested on the Judiciary Committee.
Although the Steering Committee meted out punishments to four rebellious Republicans in early December, stripping them from key committee assignments, the GOP can ill afford to isolate all the members involved in the failed coup whose numbers reached as high as 20, according to some Republicans.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions — anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously.
