Mr. Boehner was trying to craft a solution to keep the government open through the rest of the year, but was under pressure from a growing base of conservatives who told him that they would not vote for a bill that did not defund Planned Parenthood. Several of those members were on a path to remove Mr. Boehner as speaker, though their ability to do so was far from certain.
Mr. Boehner’s surprise announcement came just a day after Pope Francis visited the Capitol, the fulfillment of a 20-year dream for Mr. Boehner of having a pontiff address Congress. He had a private audience with Francis before the pope’s address to a joint meeting of Congress.
Chuck Todd: "If the Supreme Court rules how a lot of people expect them to rule, legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states, do you anticipate gaveling a platform of the Republican party at the Cleveland convention in your home state of Ohio that is still going to have a platform calling for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage?"
John Boehner: "I don't know what's going to happen at the Republican convention. But listen, I believe in traditional marriage, but I also respect the views of others. I'll let the Court make their decision but at the end of the day the states are well equipped to deal with this. They've been dealing with it, and they should continue dealing with it."
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| Speaker of the House John Boehner |
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday declined to offer his hopes for litigation seeking marriage rights for same-sex couples before the U.S. Supreme Court, but said he doesn’t expect House Republicans will weigh in a legal capacity.
“I don’t expect that we’re going to weigh in on this,” Boehner said. “The court will make its decision and that’s why they’re there, to be the highest court in the land.”
Boehner, an opponent of same-sex marriage, made the remarks in response to a question from the Washington Blade at his weekly news conference the month after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the lawsuits, which includes a lawsuit challenging the state law in Boehner’s own state of Ohio.
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| Speaker of the House John Boehner |
John Boehner’s lawsuit is nothing more than political theater and a further Republican waste of taxpayer dollars. If the Republican leaders in the House are too chicken to use their constitutional powers to rein in the President, they should just call it a day and go home.
“You mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they ever saw it?” he asked. ”They’re using our members, and they’re using the American people for their own goals. This is ridiculous. Listen, if you’re for more deficit reduction, you’re for this agreement.”
House Speaker John Boehner addressed the issue of bringing ENDA to a vote in the House today. Clearly the man is misinformed about LGBT employment rights:
A House aide confirmed to ThinkProgress that the House member’s gym is open. The House gym features a swimming pool, basketball courts, paddleball courts, a sauna, a steam room and flat screen TVs. While towel service is unavailable, taxpayers remain on the hook for cleaning and maintenance, which has been performed daily throughout the shutdown. There are also costs associated with the power required to heat the pools and keep the lights on.
According to the aide, the decision to keep the gym open — even while other critical government services were shelved — came directly from Speaker Boehner’s office. Meanwhile, the staff gym available to Congressional staff has been closed.
• 53% say the GOP should compromise more, with 41% saying the Democratic Party should give up more of the proposals it supports to develop bipartisan solutions.The same percentage of the public, 53%, believes that when it comes to bipartisan compromise, the GOP should be the party to cave on its demands.
• 53% of those surveyed say they view the policies of the GOP as too extreme, up 17 points from two years ago. Only 37% say they view the polices of the Democratic Party as too extreme.
