Making the most of House Speaker John Boehner's last weeks in office, in which he can negotiate without the constraints of a bloc of extremists threatening his job, he has
joined in budget talks with President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Boehner apparently wants to have a broader budget deal in place before he leaves, but his successor might not be so keen.
Boehner on Sunday signaled his interest in getting a deal done, saying he wanted to "clean up the barn a little bit before the next guy gets here."
Yet the talks could be a real problem for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is running for Speaker and could find himself under pressure to object to any negotiations Boehner engages in with McConnell (R-Ky.), the White House and Democrats. […]
McConnell told reporters Tuesday that he and Boehner spoke to Obama last week and expect to sit down more formally with the administration "soon."
There's good reason for McCarthy to worry about pressure from his extremist flank. Consider, below the fold, how deeply in a bubble of crazy these guys are.
One of Boehner's most strident critics, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), said the Speaker's entry into budget talks merely illustrated all the problems that conservatives had with leadership.
"It was never appropriate for the Speaker to anoint himself Speaker of the United States, and then go have talks with the president and the Senate," he said.
"This thing's been upside-down the whole time I've been here. He goes and cuts a deal with the Senate and the president, and comes down here and asks for my voting card," added Massie, who said he saw no reason to believe the situation would change under a Speaker McCarthy. [emphasis added]
It's almost enough to make one feel sorry for Boehner and what he's had to put up with for the past almost five years. Almost. But he created this monster of the "Freedom Caucus." He allowed them to dominate the Republican conference and to continue on in their merry belief that the Senate and the president don't actually have a say in government. Much less congressional Democrats.
Speaking of the Democrats, the White House is saying that "Obama stressed to McConnell and Boehner that Reid and Pelosi should be included in the budget talks." Obama can—and should—demand that the Democratic leaders be included. Boehner might not be all that serious about getting this dealt with before he leaves, he's hardly known for his work ethic. But it wouldn't hurt his legacy at all to have made this happen. McConnell has plenty of incentive to get the deal done—he wants to hang on to his position at the head of the Senate, which means keeping Republicans in the majority after next November's election. Having numerous ugly short-term funding fights, which is the alternative to an actual budget, won't help his vulnerable senators and will give House extremists multiple opportunities for shutdown fights. That all gives Pelosi and Reid, not to mention Obama, some leverage here.