House GOP Shows Cracks

It’s been a really bad week to be John Boehner. The House’s Republican majority looks to be coming apart at the seams already, after a pair of failed floor votes, a backlash from the right over spending cuts, and Christopher Lee’s scandal-fueled resignation, both Politico and the New York Times observed today. Yesterday, Republicans lost a floor vote over a plan to demand a repayment from the UN. A day earlier, two dozen Republicans joined Democrats to defeat a fast-tracked extension of the Patriot Act.

In a closed-door meeting yesterday, conservatives pushed leadership to boost its intended spending cuts, from $40 billion to $100 billion. It all looked like evidence that the Tea Party-fueled majority would be a lot more unruly than the Republicans’ consistently united minority was. “We have been in the majority four weeks,” Boehner said. “We are not going to be perfect every day.” But Democrats were in no mood to be generous. “Governing is a bitch,” one top House Democrat commented.