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Federal News Radio
‘You snooze you
lose’ message timed perfectly for Boehner on way out
By Francis Rose
October 12, 2015
Last week, as the House of Representatives came down around Majority
Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), I told a colleague, “John Boehner
(R-Ohio) promised to ‘clean the barn up’ before he left. He should go
big before he goes home.”
The lightbulb came on in my head. What a great title for a commentary!
It would riff eloquently on the work Boehner could get done
between now and his departure date, especially since McCarthy’s tumble
from the top caused a delay in leadership elections in the House
Republican conference. And there is much to be done: a highway bill,
the debt limit and the expiration of a continuing resolution. The CR
will be the most challenging deal to get done, since both President
Barack Obama and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain
(R-Ariz.) have both said they won’t let another CR through — only a
fully appropriated budget.
So imagine my chagrin when one of the best Senate reporters on the
Hill, Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call, published a piece titled “Schumer
Urges Boehner to Go Big Before Going Home.” Niels reports Sen. Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.), the presumed Democratic leader in the next Senate,
lays out a path to Boehner’s barn cleanup — rolling up all the major
challenges with which his successor would otherwise have to deal.
As I lamented losing my headline to my more nimble fellow journalist,
it occurred to me that the underlying message, “You snooze, you lose,”
was just as applicable to Boehner as it was to me.
Boehner said when he resigned that he would leave on Oct. 30, but left
an out: House Republicans had to have his successor lined up. On
Boehner’s resignation day, McCarthy looked like a sure thing. When his
candidacy for speaker blew up, though, Boehner promised to stay on
until a new speaker was selected. Given the fallout we’ve seen in the
speaker’s race, Boehner could be speaker for as long as another month.
When Congress comes back next week, it begins a run of five consecutive
weeks of work, according to my CQ Roll Call congressional calendar
mouse pad. In Congress time, that’s a long stretch of uninterrupted
work. A lot can happen if the soon-to-be-former speaker doesn’t wait
around like I did.
Sure, getting all those deals done will take Democratic votes. Boehner
may have to violate the “Hastert Rule,” requiring half of the
Republican caucus to approve of a bill before it comes to the floor for
a vote. But what does he care, at this point? “You can’t fire me,” he
could tell the caucus. “I already quit!”
So whether the message is “Go big or go home,” or “You snooze, you
lose,” the incentive is there for a lot of deal making in the coming
weeks. The only question is if Boehner, and his counterparts who are
staying in Washington after he leaves, have the stomach to give as well
as they take.
Read this and other articles at Federal News Radio
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