Player of the Week: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is facing a slew of political problems this month.

He is trying to rally support for a payroll tax extension that is paid for. But many in his House GOP conference doesn’t want to extend the tax cut into 2013, paid for or not. 

Boehner’s Republican counterpart in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), attempted to rally his colleagues on such a bill late last week. It backfired badly as a majority of Senate Republicans, including McConnell’s leadership lieutenants, voted no. 

That’s a very ominous sign for Boehner, who is expected to release his legislative tax holiday plan this week. The Speaker knows he will have to sweeten the pot if he is to woo conservative votes, especially in the wake of a contentious meeting of House Republicans last week.

He is also trying to pass end-of-the-year omnibus spending legislation that will consist of nine pending spending bills. Can such a massive measure pass? Yes, but only with the help of House Democrats.

That became clear when 101 Republicans defected last month on a minibus bill that lumped three appropriations measures together. Two of Boehner’s deputies, Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Tom Price (R-Ga.), were among the defectors.

Republican appropriators who crafted the bill told The Hill they were furious about the “no” votes, and claimed that Boehner’s leverage has now been curtailed. They pointed out that most Republican policy riders that would have handcuffed the Obama administration’s regulatory powers will now need to be jettisoned to win Democratic votes. 

Other items that could be attached to the omnibus bill are pricey, including an extension of unemployment benefits, the Medicare “doc fix” and other tax extenders.

The final price tag of the bill will be enormous, and it remains to be seen whether a majority of House Republicans will back it. It will be a challenging week, and month, for the Speaker. 

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