The new House majority leader, John Boehner, doesn’t seem like the scrub-the-House-clean type of leader needed to erase the memory of Tom DeLay, but as the surprise reform candidate, he’ll have a strong hand in making changes on Capitol Hill.
Even though he painted himself as a reformer, Boehner has had a more than cozy relationship with lobbyists over 15 years in Congress.
Famously, he actually handed out checks on the House floor in 1995 from tobacco lobbyists while lawmakers were considering tobacco subsidies. He’s also known for his luxurious beach parties for donors and made plenty of trips on lobbyist dimes. Not exactly the poster child of reform.
But it could have been worse. House Republicans rejected the favorite, Rep. Roy Blunt. He’s a DeLay loyalist, and fond of the current system that most everyone outside Congress knows needs to be reformed.
The other candidate was Arizona’s John Shadegg, a no-nonsense conservative who promised the most independence from free-spending special interests.
A majority of Republicans saw Boehner (pronounced BAY-ner) as the proper blend of change and continuity. We hope the current political climate pushes him more to the side of change, because the system that encourages influence peddlers like Jack Abramoff is broken.
“Yes, I am cozy with lobbyists,” Boehner reportedly told lawmakers, according to The Washington Post. “But I have never done anything unethical.”
Boehner’s political career was on the rise under Newt Gingrich in the mid-1990s, but it dipped after 1998 when Republicans lost House seats and Gingrich disappeared under an ethical cloud.
As he climbs back into leadership, we hope Boehner will have one of those Nixon-in-China impacts where he plays against stereotype and leads real, honest reform.
So far, while his proposals don’t reach far enough, there are glimmers of hope. He wants to eliminate congressional “earmarks,” which allow lawmakers to attach pet projects to bills. Earmarking has made individual congressmen very valuable in the eyes of lobbyists, and it’s a system ripe for abuses. (And it adds billions of dollars to federal deficits.)
As House majority leader, Boehner has more to do than just push for ethics reform. However, a comprehensive package of rules that puts strict handcuffs on lobbyists and punishes lawmakers who break the rules ought to be among his first priorities.
Boehner will be under scrutiny from skeptics who wonder if he’s really going to institute congressional ethics or budget reform. We hope he’s earnest and up to the task.
