US House re-elects Republican Boehner as speaker, but tea party opposition shows divisions
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives has re-elected John Boehner to be speaker in the new Republican-led Congress, despite opposition by conservative tea party lawmakers that underscored party divisions.
Boehner garnered the votes of 216 Republican lawmakers as Congress convened Tuesday. That was enough for him to win a third two-year term leading the House.
But in an embarrassing slap, 25 Republicans voted for other candidates or voted present. They consider Boehner to be too accommodating and not conservative enough.
Their repudiation of Boehner was an awkward display of Republican schisms at a time when party leaders want to show voters that they can govern effectively. They want to show they won’t be forced by tea party legislators into unwinnable, unpopular showdowns with President Barack Obama.
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