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Saturday, January 3, 2015

Speakerwatch

Over the past several days, there have been more and more representatives that have publicly voiced their intention not to vote for John Boehner to retain the Speakership. Several more have hinted at their true feelings. There was, of course, the ultimately fruitless attempt to oust Speaker Boehner in early 2013 (spearheaded by Raul Labrador and Justin Amash), but this attempt seems to be gaining more steam and popular support.

A list of those opposing (or likely to oppose) Boehner follows.

1. Justin Amash (R-MI): One of the most prominent liberty Republicans in the House of Representatives, and one of the few to oppose Boehner in 2013, is almost certain to oppose Boehner. In a recent interview, he had this to say.

"I'm deeply troubled by what I think were some misleading statements by the leadership team about the "cromnibus" and the process that brought it to the floor. I'm not going to put that on Speaker Boehner, but the leadership as a whole. And I want to have these conversations with the speaker before we have the vote for speaker and I haven't made a decision yet about what I'll do, but I need to see that things are moving in the right direction."

While hardly an outright declaration, Amash is likely to oppose.

2. Thomas Massie (R-KY): Massie, a sophomore Republcian, opposed Boehner in 2013, and has again publicly declared his opposition.

3. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK): Bridenstine, who also voted against Boehner previously, has declared his intention to do so again.

There were a total of 9 other Republicans (12 total) who revolted in 2013. 10, including the three above, were re-elected. I've been unable to track down an exhaustive list, but they include 4) Raul Labrador (R-ID), 5) Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), and 6) Walter Jones (R-NC).

More Republicans are likely to officially announce opposition prior to the vote, and many who don't are presumed to oppose Boehner regardless.

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