Bridenstine and Massie Call For Reinstatement of Boehner Foes
Congressman Jim Bridenstine
The backlash against conservative House Representatives who participated in the failed coup against Speaker John Boehner began almost immediately after the vote.
Congressman Daniel Webster (FL-10) and Richard Nugent (FL-11), who voted against Boehner, were removed from the powerful House Rules Committee. Webster was the leading alternative to Boehner, receiving twelve votes of the 25 “defections”.
They are not without allies, however.
The following is a joint Statement from Congressmen Jim Bridenstine (OK-1) and Thomas Massie (KY-4):
“According to the Congressional Record, Congressmen Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent, Members who voted against John Boehner as Speaker of the House, have been kicked off the Rules Committee. This retribution compromises the ability of Members of Congress to faithfully represent their constituents and subverts our representative democracy.
The Speaker must immediately reinstate these Members. No Member should be punished for voting his or her conscience.
We expect other Members of the House of Representatives to condemn this act of political retribution.”
Good for them.
It seems in Washington these days that political parties and battles over leadership and status overshadow the true reason that Representatives go to DC: to represent. The title should be self evident. But represent whom? Presumably, it is to represent the will of their constituents, an oft forgotten collection of folks who actually do play a pretty important role in the governing process. They do the electing of the elected officials in the first place.
When those in leadership demand that loyalty to a Party or other power structure trumps the will of the people who put them there; when Representatives aren’t allowed to represent without repercussion, the entire dynamic is out of whack. Thankfully some get it and are willing to stand up and be heard.
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