Speaker John Boehner faces toughest test of his leadership - TheHill.com
John Boehner’s first year as Speaker has been filled with conflict as the Ohio Republican has battled President Obama, Senate Democrats and members of his House majority.
This week arguably is Boehner’s biggest challenge of 2011, as he tries to persuade fellow GOP lawmakers to back an extension of the payroll-tax holiday. Obama and congressional Democrats have seized the upper hand on the legislation while Republicans argued among themselves over whether it would help the economy.
The payroll-tax standoff is similar to other battles Boehner has waged this year. During the government-shutdown showdown in the spring and the summer’s contentious battle over raising the nation’s debt limit, Boehner sought two things: political leverage and votes.
This week will be no different.
The House will vote on a payroll-tax extension containing sweeteners to lure conservative votes, most notably the fast-tracking of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline. Democrats say the massive bill, which includes provisions on the so-called Medicare doc fix and unemployment benefits, has no chance of passing the Senate and will not become law.