House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) wielded his caucus members’ committee posts as leverage in whipping up support for the bipartisan budget deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Anonymous sources familiar with the internal discussions told the Journal that “in the run-up to the budget vote, Mr. Boehner’s deputies warned chairmen who were tempted to oppose the deal that doing so could jeopardize their committee posts.”
The speaker’s effort was meant to reverse a trend of committee chairs bucking party leadership and voting against legislative priorities like a farm bill, according to the Journal.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel told the Journal that “the speaker, and the entire leadership team, urged all House Republicans to support the [budget] agreement, which lowered the deficit without raising taxes.”
Boehner was also visibly angered earlier this month when outside conservative groups, which have substantial clout among the party’s more activist members, spoke out against the emerging deal.
“You mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they ever saw it?” Boehner told reporters. “They’re using our members and they’re using the American people for their own goals. This is ridiculous.”
