As Speaker of the House John Boehner stands for his third term as Speaker on Tuesday, a close ally in Congress says there are only “higher than 130″ out of 246 Republican Members of Congress who are solid votes for Boehner for Speaker.
The statement was made to show Boehner’s strength but it shows acknowledgement of the lack of support for Boehner by his Republican colleagues as the 114th Congress convenes.
The comment was made to and reported by Matt Fuller of Roll Call:
“Boehner allies insist the Ohio Republican has no serious challenger for the job.
“There are just too many Republicans — “higher than 130,” according to Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole — who would only vote for Boehner to be speaker.”
That’s a stunning admission that the two-term Speaker only has the solid support of barely half the 246 Republican Members.
While the Roll Call article reports indications are that Boehner will likely survive the challenge his position is incredibly weak, especially as compared to the Democrat whom he succeeded as Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi has remained as leader of the Democrats in the House despite leading them to three straight defeats in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 elections, after having held the majority for only four years, that have left the party with its fewest Members since the Truman presidency in the late 1940s.
A poll reported on by The Gateway Pundit on Sunday and Monday of Republican voters shows the party is in a state of catastrophe with support for Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the mid-twenties as individuals and just 16 percent as a team.