Free Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives by Robert Draper Page A

the Committees and their members” rather than through leadership. And, in a veiled swipe at the autocratic DeLay, Boehner argued that the House majority should “make consideration of bills more open—and always guaranteeing the Democrats the right to offer a substitute amendment, even when they don’t want to offer one , so that voters can size us both up and see which philosophy and which proposal they support.”
    On February 2, 2006, the Republican conference met to consider three candidates: Boehner, who had cast himself as the reformer; the majority whip, Roy Blunt, who was next in line for the post and thus heavily favored; and conservative favorite John Shadegg. Testimonials attesting to Boehner’s leadership skills were given by two Army veterans, Steve Buyer and South Carolina Congressman Gresham Barrett. But the most surprising endorsement came from House Ways and Meanschairman Bill Thomas, who had tangled with Boehner over committee jurisdictional matters. The famously crusty Thomas professed his admiration of his former adversary.
    Boehner prevailed on a secret ballot vote, 122–109. He was now second in command to Speaker Denny Hastert. After the Republicans were stomped in November 2006 and Hastert decided to retire, Boehner ascended to minority leader. Then came November 4, 2008, and the GOP lost even more seats.
    The clock was ticking fast for the John Boehner Era.
    Fretful of the locomotion that the Democratic majority’s agenda was gathering, his colleagues said it to him over and over: “John, we’ve gotta be more aggressive!”
    Boehner’s reply, through a cumulus cloud of cigarette smoke, was more or less the same: “Relax. We’re gonna be fine.”
    It drove his fellow Republicans a little bit nuts, the way Boehner stabbed languidly at the ashtray, shrugged his shoulders, moseyed on over to the Capitol Hill Club or Alberto’s with his cycling pals and in general acted as if the rise of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama was all part of the plan. He was never going to be an advocate of uptight discipline like his lieutenant Eric Cantor, a forty-eight-year-old former Richmond, Virginia, lawyer who was taut with calculation and poised as a cobra. During his January 5, 2011, speech on the House floor to introduce the rules that would govern the body throughout the 112th Congress, Cantor would proclaim that the Republican-controlled House would “hold ourselves accountable by asking the following questions: Are our efforts addressing job creation and the economy? Are they cutting spending? Are they shrinking the size of the Federal Government while protecting and expanding individual liberty? If not, why are we doing it?”
    Subsequently, a sign with that very litany of questions and the heading CANTOR RULE would be sitting on several desks throughout the majority leader’s Capitol suite.
    Boehner wasn’t ever going to encourage a personality cult in his workplace. Nor was he ever going to inhabit the cutting edge like the third-ranking Republican, Kevin McCarthy, himself not lacking in ambition. McCarthy was from Bakersfield, California, and often flew toSilicon Valley so that he could trade ideas with high-tech CEOs. During the doldrums of early 2009, McCarthy used GOP funds to start a graphically jazzy website, AmericaSpeakingOut.com, where anyone could register their disgruntlement over the Obama agenda and propose agendas of their own.
    Boehner often communicated with other members via highly abbreviated text messages. But that was about as sophisticated as he got. During one Republican conference, the Speaker gamely exhorted the members to use their Twitter accounts to convey the House GOP’s themes of the week. “And,” he added, “uh, don’t forget to, when you’re, uh, tweeting, to, uh, type in a, uh . . .”
    The next words seemed to come out of his mouth sideways, like a Czech adjective: “. . . er . . . hash . . . tag! ”
    McCarthy had brought Boehner along to a Bakersfield Tea