After publicly defying Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Florida GOP Reps. Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent won’t be getting their seats back on the Rules Committee, The Hill has learned.
Boehner and his allies booted the pair of congressmen from the influential Rules panel on Jan. 6, just hours after they joined a failed bid by 25 conservatives to oust the leader from his post.
{mosads}In the wake of the vote on the House floor, the Speaker said the GOP conference would be having a “family conversation” about whether to further punish his conservative foes. Boehner left the door open to the possibility that Webster and Nugent could be reinstated to the Rules Committee, which controls how bills come to the floor and is unofficially known as the “Speaker’s committee” because the Speaker picks its members.
But leadership aides said Wednesday that the “door had shut” on the pair of congressmen.
“The chance of them being put back on Rules is slim to none,” said a GOP leadership aide familiar with discussions about Webster and Nugent.
No decisions have been made yet as to who will fill the two vacancies on Rules.
Webster, the former Florida state House Speaker and Senate president, received a dozen votes from his GOP colleagues for Speaker of the U.S. House. He was the less likely of the two to return to Rules since he directly took on the sitting Speaker, aides said, though he was named Tuesday to a third Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, this one dealing with highways.
But Nugent did himself no favors after the vote when he blasted Boehner’s leadership in a newsletter to constituents.
“I don’t believe that John Boehner is the best man for the job. This may surprise some people (including the Speaker) but it has far more to do with his leadership abilities than it does with his conservatism,” Nugent wrote. “What I mean by that is that if you can’t lead and you can’t deliver, then your own personal political philosophy is pretty much irrelevant. …
“[T]here have been far too many occasions over the last four years where the House has been ineffective and America just can’t wait any longer,” he continued. “America needs vision, a sense of purpose, and an ability to follow through. We aren’t getting those things.”
So far, Boehner has not taken further retribution against the 25 dissenters, in part because he doesn’t want to further incite Tea Partyers agitating for his ouster. But several Boehner allies are pressuring him to take other actions against the Gang of 25, including limiting their travel abroad and cutting off their fundraising opportunities.