Boehner stresses GOP unity against omnibus bill

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) sent a strong message Wednesday to his Republican colleagues who might soon feel the urge to vote for an anticipated omnibus appropriations bill: GOP unity is crucial and the bill must be rejected.

Sporting a Stetson hat bought in Rep. Sam Johnson’s (R-Texas) district, Boehner called on Republicans to rally together during the last few weeks of the congressional session and work as a unit to block Democratic bills that they believe would raise taxes, hurt the economy and exceed President Bush’s budget, according to sources in the room.

{mosads}He told members at the Wednesday morning meeting that he recognized that some of them earlier this year wanted to vote with Democrats on popular pieces of legislation.

Last month, 51 Republicans voted with Democrats to override the president’s veto of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education spending bill. Republicans viewed the bill as the hardest of the spending measures on which to sustain the president’s veto, and they succeeded narrowly. The final tally was 244 to 114, with 15 members voting present.

Boehner reminded members of the legislative successes of the past year and of the laundry list of tasks Democrats have to complete as 2007 winds to a close. He predicted Democrats would try to push through an omnibus appropriations bill up to $11 billion over the president’s budget.

However, it is unclear if Boehner’s words will resonate with centrist GOP lawmakers who may be inclined to vote for the omnibus.

For example, if the long-awaited energy bill becomes part of the omnibus centrist Republicans could find it difficult to vote against it.

One centrist lawmaker who asked not to be identified said he thought Democrats would simply move funds around in the omnibus within the president’s spending levels and it will eventually pass both chambers.

Republican leadership officials are skeptical that Democrats will resist the urge to “overspend.”

“The real question is who in their right mind could possibly think that Republicans would break the close ranks we’ve exhibited all year and vote for sloppy, pork-filled omnibus spending?” said Boehner spokesman Brian Kennedy. “No one has seen it yet, but given the advanced state of the Democrats’ disarray, everyone knows it’s going to bear a strong resemblance to a pig and its pen.”

Democrats have noted that Republicans passed many omnibus bills when they controlled the House between 1995 and 2006.

The Republican whip operation, meanwhile, is confident that its tactics will maintain GOP unity.

“Republican claims of fiscal responsibility ring hollow,” said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “When they were in leadership they proved one thing — that they can spend trillions of taxpayer money without thinking twice about it.”

Elshami added, “Democrats are committed to fiscal responsibility and to meeting our national priorities long ignored by Republicans.”

“The burden is now on the Democrats to figure this out. They wasted an entire legislative year, backed themselves into a corner, and now have a year’s worth of work to fit into two weeks,” said Amos Snead, a spokesman for House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). “House Republicans have stood up all year against bloated spending bills and we will continue to for the final few weeks.”