White House hits Boehner ahead of speech on reform

The White House pushed back against a speech House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is set to deliver Thursday on congressional reform. 

Boehner is expected to speak at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, where he will pledge to improve the way Congress works if he becomes Speaker of the House while slamming Democrats for doing a poor job of running Congress.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer wrote that Boehner’s speech contains empty promises. 

“We are interested to hear what Rep. Boehner has to say, but given the track record of congressional Republicans over the past two years and the lack of real reform in their new agenda, we sincerely hope we’ll hear some substantive proposals this time around. But please excuse us for being more than a little skeptical that this is anything other than a brief election-year conversion,” he wrote on the White House blog. “One thing is already clear: They haven’t changed, so they won’t bring the change we need.

“Despite their talk about ending ‘backroom deals’ and their promises of transparency, congressional Republicans have repeatedly shown that they still pay more attention to lobbyists than they do to the American people.”

In his speech, Boehner will call for reform of Congress to be “an ongoing and inclusive effort,” according to excerpts released by Boehner’s office. 

Boehner will also say: “I don’t have all the answers, and wouldn’t pretend to. I welcome ideas and helping hands from any lawmaker, expert or citizen about how we can make this institution function again.”

Boehner has been a top target of the White House, which has sought to elevate his stature as a symbol for Democratic candidates to run against in the midterm elections. It’s a difficult task, however, since Boehner remains a relatively unfamiliar figure to many voters.

Earlier Thursday, Democrats released a new television ad highlighting Boehner’s relationships with lobbyists.

Congressional transparency and the ethics process has been a main point of contention between Democrats and Republicans. The GOP has pointed to the impending ethics trials of Reps. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) as evidence that the Democratic Congress has violated Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) pledge to run the most ethical Congress ever. 

Republicans have also complained that Democrats have been less than transparent during the debate over healthcare reform and financial regulatory reform legislation.

Pfeiffer reminded Boehner that Democrats passed ethics reform legislation in 2007 and that the White House has gone to lengths to release visitor records and has limited lobbyists’ opportunities to work in the administration.

“These efforts represent a belief that our government belongs to the American people,” he wrote. “We hope Republicans feel the same way about Congress, but they still need to prove that they don’t think it belongs to the special interests. Until they show they are committed to serious reform and change their own way of doing business, they won’t change the way Washington works.”

— This post was updated at 1:00 p.m.