John Boehner struck a magnanimous tone after fighting off the biggest anti-speaker rebellion in 150 years yesterday—"May the fruits of our labors be ladders our children can use to climb to the stars," he told the House—but payback has been swift for some of the 25 conservatives who voted against him. Florida Reps. Dan Webster and Richard Nugent have been kicked off the powerful House Rules Committee, which is appointed directly by the speaker, in apparent retaliation, the Hill reports. Webster ran against Boehner for House speaker yesterday and received 12 votes, including Nugent's.
The move to kick the rebels off the Rules Committee could be just the beginning of Boehner's revenge, according to Politico, which notes that some of the speaker's allies say he has been too much of a pushover and will welcome this kind of action. In a process that GOP sources say could take months, the conservative insurgents may also lose perks such as subcommittee chairmanships. With the increased GOP majority in the House, "we don't need these fringe guys as much as we did anymore," one Republican leadership aide says. (More John Boehner stories.)
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