WASHINGTON: US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, having suffered an embarrassing rebuke at the hands of conservatives in his own party, played down any risk to his continuing leadership on Sunday, saying disagreements with fellow Republicans were merely over strategy, not goals.
Asked if he could lead the House, Boehner said, "I think so. I'm not going to suggest it's easy, because it's not."
The House narrowly averted a shutdown of funding to the Department of Homeland Security on Friday after Boehner failed to rein in conservative Republicans insistent upon tying the issue to blocking President Barack Obama's move to shield millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
"We do have some members who disagree from time to time over the tactics that we decide to employ. But remember that Republicans are united in this idea that the president has far exceeded his constitutional authority," he said in an interview on the CBS program "Face the Nation."
Boehner on Jan. 6 narrowly won a third term as speaker, surviving a stiff challenge from 25 conservative Republicans that signaled a possible growing split within the party as it assumed full control of Congress. A faction of dissident House Republicans oppose him because they say he has done too little to cut spending and fight Obama's immigration and healthcare policies.
Steve Scalise, the third-ranking House Republican, told the "Fox News Sunday" program the selection of a House speaker took place "just a few weeks ago."
"And that vote is over. We are moving forward," Scalise said. "... And obviously he's speaker. He's going forward."
Boehner's failure to corral enough votes to fund the department for three weeks - they settled for one week - again raised questions over whether he could lead House Republicans.
Asked on the CNN program "State of the Union" about a possible attempt to depose Boehner, outspoken House conservative Jim Jordan, from Ohio like Boehner, said "that's not going to happen." Asked if he would challenge Boehner if the speaker agrees to fund the department without erasing Obama's immigration action, Jordan said, "No, of course not."
Boehner said "the House is a rambunctious place" but that he enjoyed his job "most days." He said that Friday - when the House failed to pass the three-week funding measure - was "messy."
"I'm not into messy. But listen, I enjoy being in a legislative body. I enjoy all the personalities, and I've got a lot of them," he said.
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