Boehner: GOP foe went ‘off the reservation’

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) brushed off a long-shot attempt by Rep. Mark Meadows to oust him from power, suggesting the conservative North Carolina Republican was “off the reservation.”

“Listen, you’ve got a member here and a member there who are off the reservation. It’s no big deal,” Boehner told reporters at a news conference Wednesday. “This is one member, alright. I’ve got broad support amongst my colleagues.”

{mosads}His remarks came just a day after Meadows introduced a resolution to strip the Speaker’s gavel from Boehner — a bold and surprising move that has been criticized by many in the GOP. The resolution isn’t expected to go anywhere, since it was immediately sent to the Rules Committee, whose members are largely sympathetic to Boehner.

The Speaker indicated he had not spoken to Meadows, and he said the congressman’s resolution “frankly doesn’t even deserve a vote.”

The House leaves Wednesday night for the five-week summer recess, then returns to Washington to tackle a number of critical issues: figuring out how to fund the government and avert a shutdown, a vote on the Iran nuclear agreement, a long-term transportation bill and raising the debt ceiling.

Asked if he expected to face more challenges from the right this fall, Boehner replied that legislating is always difficult.

“We’ll manage our way through this. This is part of the legislative process. It’s nothing new. Maybe it’s more pronounced these days in 2015 than it would have been 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s a legislative environment and legislating is hard work,” Boehner said.

“We’ll take these issues one step at a time. And I’m looking forward to a very successful fall.”