Dems fret over post-Boehner era

House Democratic leaders are amplifying concerns that governing will only get tougher after Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) steps down.

The lawmakers say they’re hopeful that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the majority leader and current favorite to replace Boehner, will work with President Obama and congressional Democrats to pass bills and keep the government running.

{mosads}But they’re also quick to acknowledge that the next Speaker, whoever that is, will face intense pressure to cater to the conservative Republicans who drove Boehner’s resignation or risk suffering a similar fate.

“It’s disturbing that Speaker Boehner was somehow not conservative enough for many of our Republican colleagues. But let’s be clear: This is not a Speaker Boehner problem … this is a Republican Conference problem,” Rep. Ben Ray Luján (N.M), head of the Democrats’ campaign arm, said Tuesday. “And the next Speaker will face the same stark choice as Boehner: go along with the extreme base or get run over by them.”

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) echoed that message. She characterized McCarthy as “an amiable man” with “great leadership skills,” but nonetheless warned that he’ll be facing “a rump caucus in the Republican Party … that is turning into a cancer.”

“They want their pound of flesh, and if they don’t get their pound of flesh they will shut down this government,” Speier said. “And Kevin McCarthy will be faced with the same challenges that Speaker Boehner has been faced with: trying to assuage them and never assuaging them enough.”

Boehner’s surprise resignation Friday came after years of sparring with a right flank that attacked his leadership style as too quick to compromise with Obama and Democrats, particularly on spending issues.

Facing a revolt over a short-term spending bill that conservatives wanted to use to defund Planned Parenthood, Boehner said he was stepping down to preserve the institution.

“I don’t want my members to have to go through this,” he said Friday. “I certainly don’t want the institution to go through this.”

McCarthy, who announced his run for the Speakership on Monday, has taken early steps to distance himself from Boehner’s approach, criticizing the focus on the institution and vowing to listen more closely to individual members — a nod to the conservatives who essentially toppled Boehner.

“A lot of people care about power, care about institution, more so than they care about changing the lives of everyday Americans,” he said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. “But I see a conference, if it has a new culture — and that’s what a Speaker does, sets the culture, brings people together, lets every voice be heard and bring it from the bottom up.”

Such comments are only fueling the Democratic concerns that McCarthy may be forced to take a harder line as Congress heads into big fights beyond this month’s deadline to fund the government, including those over raising the debt limit, extending highway funding and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.

“Kevin McCarthy is someone who has been in leadership, not just in the House but, before, he served in the state legislature … so he understands legislators and he understands the legislative process,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.), head of the Democratic Caucus.

“My sense and our hope would be that if he becomes the Speaker that he would use that knowledge to help us move legislation forward to try to get things done. Perhaps he’ll have more success in corralling his own team so that we can get things done,” Becerra added. “But at the same time the concern is … will he be able to work with his colleagues on the Republican side? Or will he get run over by them?”

Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.), vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, suggested the GOP’s sharp disagreements have created a leadership void that will need to be filled before Congress can tackle the must-pass bills that remain this year.

“Whoever the Republican leadership will be in the House, it may not be as important how they get along with us as how they get along with themselves,” Crowley said. “I do think that there may be a learning curve. … I can’t see a honeymoon, because there’s no time for a honeymoon. But the hope that, maybe it’s [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.], maybe it’s some other adults … from their side of the aisle, who will be able to temper some of the headstrong folks they have within their caucus.”