October 30, 2015

Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, became speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 2015. (Credit U.S. House of Representatives)

Yesterday, October 29, Paul Ryan, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, became Speaker of the House of Representatives, an important office within the U.S. government. The speaker is the leader of his or her political party in the House, as well as the presiding officer. The speaker is expected to use the office to promote the party. He or she ranks next after the vice president in order of presidential succession. At age 45, Ryan has represented Wisconsin’s 1st District since 1999. He was his party’s nominee for vice president of the United States in 2012. Ryan and his running mate, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, lost the election to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Ryan succeeded Ohio Republican John Boehner (BAY ner) as Speaker.

John Boehner served as the speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 until his retirement in 2015. Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, had been a member of the House since 1991. (Credit United States House of Representatives)

Boehner retired from his position as Speaker yesterday and is retiring from Congress today. Boehner had a difficult run during his time as Speaker. The Republicans became the majority party in the House of Representatives in 2011 (after the 2010 midterm elections), and they soon elected Boehner as Speaker of the House. Ordinarily, when a party gains a majority of seats in Congress, it is able to pass bills that further its own agenda. This became problematic for Republicans because of divisions within the party. The Tea Party movement that formed in 2009 and the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus formed in 2015 have both warred with more mainstream members of the Republican party.

The Tea Party formed in opposition to bailouts for large banks during the worldwide financial crisis that began in 2007. The bailouts began under the administration of George W. Bush and then were continued under Barack Obama, who took office in January 2008. The bailouts enraged certain conservatives, who considered them “corporate welfare” (government aiding business).

A majority leader calls upon party members to vote as he or she asks on important bills. But far-right Republicans in the House often did not align with Boehner and the Republican leadership. Many tried to block budget bills and bills raising the government debt ceiling, despite Boehner’s pleas not to do so. Many political experts described Boehner as having been “hounded” from his position by far-right Republicans.

Before Boehner stepped down, he managed to pass a bipartisan budget bill over the “no” votes of ultra-conservative Republicans. The new budget, which also increases the debt ceiling, is good through 2017, saving Ryan from an immediate high-profile showdown with the far-right members of his party. When first asked to run for speaker, Ryan was reluctant. He decided to pursue the position, however, upon the endorsement of the major factions of House Republicans, including a majority of the Freedom Caucus.

January 22, 2015

Speaker of the House of Representatives John A. Boehner yesterday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress on February 11. Political analysts suggested that the invitation, which Netanyahu accepted, is part of a growing showdown between Republicans and President Barack Obama over proposals to tighten sanctions against Iran. Iran, the United States, and other world powers are in negotiations over possible controls and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program, including levels of uranium enrichment. Despite these talks, Israel, according to a number of military experts, is preparing for air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

In his State of the Union address to Congress on January 20, President Obama appealed to the Republican-controlled House and Senate to hold off on any additional sanctions against Iran while diplomatic talks continue over possible ways to limit Iran’s nuclear program. [New sanctions] “will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails, alienating America from its allies and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again,” the president stated in his address.

Speaking to Republican lawmakers yesterday, Boehner noted that he hoped Netanyahu would speak on the threat radical Islam and Iran pose to U.S. security. “He [President Obama] expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran,” said Boehner.

Today, a White House spokesperson informed the media that President Obama would not meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu upon his arrival in February.

Additional World Book article:

• Nuclear weapon

September 30, 2013
A shutdown of the U.S. federal government looms, as Democratic and Republican lawmakers remain deadlocked over stopgap legislation to fund government operations. Without passage of a finance bill by both houses of Congress, the government will be forced to close all nonessential federal services at midnight on October 1.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner (above), leads a Republican Party intent upon tying the U.S. budget bill to delaying or denying funding to the Affordable Healthcare Act, passed in 2010. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (above left) has vowed that the Senate will not vote for the House's version of the finance bill (United States House of Representatives).

(U.S. Senate)

The key point of contention in the political stalemate is the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama’s landmark health care legislation. A number of Republicans in the House of Representatives—in particular the Tea Party caucus—demand that the law be repealed or stripped of funding as a condition for keeping the government running. The House passed its latest version of a stopgap funding measure on September 28. The bill included a year-long delay in the implementation of what has come to be called “Obamacare.” It also included a measure that would permanently eliminate a medical-device tax that was designed to partially fund the new health care system. Legal experts point out that eliminating the tax would essentially cripple the act. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has vowed that his Democrat-led chamber will reject the House bill, and in fact, the Senate failed to go into session on September 29 despite the political crisis.

A government shutdown would place more than 700,000 federal employees on unpaid leave, with no guarantee of receiving back pay once the deadlock is over; Social Security, federal pension, and veterans’ benefit checks would be delayed; Medicare and Medicaid payments would be disrupted; and many government facilities, including immigration services  and passport and visa offices, would be shut down; the national parks and Smithsonian museums would also close.

President Obama emphasized today that the simple solution to the standoff is for House Republicans to pass the budget that was passed by the Senate on September 27. Of course, the Senate legislation does not gut the Affordable Care Act. Political experts note that the Senate bill, if brought to the House floor by Speaker John Boehner, would almost certainly pass, largely with Democratic votes. However, they suggest that if Boehner were to bring the Senate bill to a vote in defiance of the Tea Party caucus his action would likely cost him his position as speaker of the House.

Major portions of the Affordable Care Act, which a Democrat-controlled Congress passed in 2010, are due to go into effect tomorrow. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the act was constitutional in 2012.

Additional World Book articles:

• Congress of the United States 2010 (a Back in Time article)
• Health Care Reform–What’s in it for You? (a special report)
• Medicaid in Distress (a special report)
• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)