Washington – Eager to project a fresh face amid some embarrassing scandals, Republicans in the House of Representatives shook up their top ranks Thursday and signaled their desire to shift away from their recent immersion in special-interest pork-barrel politics.
In a stunning upset, the House Republicans elected Ohio Rep. John Boehner as their majority leader, defeating Missouri Rep. Roy Blunt, who had been favored as the incumbent since last fall. The majority leader helps set the party agenda, controls the flow of legislation, assembles votes and can be a public spokesman for his party.
While House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., remains in the top job, the rejection of Blunt is a break from the leadership era of Rep. Tom DeLay, the hard-charging Texan known as “the Hammer.”
DeLay was Hastert’s strongman until he was indicted on charges of laundering campaign money last fall, and a burgeoning lobbying scandal forced him to surrender his leadership post. Blunt was a close ally of DeLay’s; Boehner was not. Blunt reverted to the No. 3 leadership post, majority whip.
“There was a desire to get as far away from Tom DeLay as possible. Roy Blunt could not overcome his close association with DeLay,” said Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colorado Springs.
Hefley, who was forced from his role as chairman of the House ethics committee after it admonished DeLay three times, said the choice of Boehner “shows pretty clearly that we want new faces in the forefront of the Republican party. … We don’t want the perception or the reality that this is a place of corruption.”
Boehner (pronounced BAY-nor), a personable, chain-smoking dealmaker, declared himself humbled by the outcome. Draping an arm around Blunt, he said: “What you’re going to see us do is rededicate ourselves to dealing with issues – big issues – that the American people expect us to deal with.”
Boehner ran on a pledge to limit the ability of individual congressmen to insert special-interest provisions called “earmarks” into legislation. They’re an easy way to reward Washington lobbyists and campaign donors. They’re inserted without public review, and their numbers have skyrocketed over the past decade.
Boehner is no stranger to lobbying, however. In 1995, he distributed checks from tobacco industry political action committees to House members on the House floor. He’s since said that he regretted handing out the checks.
He’s also the chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and a leading recipient of campaign money from Sallie Mae, the nation’s leader in college loans.
Denver Post staff writer Anne Mulkern contributed to this report.
