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Speaker Boehner Consolidates Power for 113th Congress

Speaker John A. Boehner kept the GOP House majority for another term, and his role as speaker is secure. Now he turns to consolidating his power to gear up for a contentious legislative session in the 113th Congress.

CQ Roll Call File Photo

The Democrats hold the Senate and the White House, so it is up to Boehner to negotiate the best possible deals for the GOP and the House of Representatives.

Roll Call‘s Dan Newhauser reports:

Speaker John A. Boehner has long insisted that the House Republican Conference be allowed to work its will. Now, the Ohio Republican is doing everything he can to ensure his will holds more credence in the 113th Congress.

Boehner is consolidating his power ahead of what will likely be a contentious legislative session during which every vote will be crucial to getting Republicans the best possible deal from President Barack Obama and the resurgent congressional Democrats.

Like an old mob movie, those who have crossed the speaker are mysteriously disappearing left and right, while those who have pledged fealty to him are being rewarded with plum positions and important titles.

Case in point, Boehner tightened the screws Thursday on the Republican Steering Committee, the influential and secretive panel of leaders, committee chairmen and regional representatives who make decisions about committee assignments and chairmanships.

To read the entire story on RollCall.com, click here.

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CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing: Lady’s Choice

THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama will hold a full-dress, East Room news conference at 1:30, the first time he’s taken questions from the presidential press corps in 21 weeks. He’s sure to be asked about his assessment of the re-election mandate, his fear of falling over the fiscal cliff, his understanding of the Benghazi backstory and his confidence in Gen. John Allen after learning about the Love Pentagon. (That’s as good a nickname as any for the scandal that’s ensnared a pair of four-star generals, the two women who captured their attention and the shirtless FBI agent who made sure the sordid personal drama came to light.)

The president’s second newsmaker of the day is at 2:45, when he’ll ask a dozen corporate CEOs to support — or at least acquiesce in — his argument that the economy will do better with than without higher taxes on the richest Americans next year. (His opening bid when he meets with congressional leaders on Friday will be $1.6 billion in revenue as part of a $4 trillion, 10-year red ink reduction package, double what Boehner rejected two summers ago.) Labor and progressive leaders came out of the Roosevelt Room yesterday professing confidence in Obama’s ability to negotiate a fiscal cliff deal they could live with. He’s likely to get a much more muted response from the executives at Aetna, American Express, Chevron, Dow, Ford, GE, Honeywell, IBM, PepsiCo, Proctor & Gamble, Walmart and Xerox.

THE SENATE: Convenes at 2:30 and is on course to pass legislation that would mean more hunting and fishing on federal land. (Reid decided that any post-election promises about returning to the old era of wide-open senatorial deliberation would have to wait; he took procedural steps last night to forestall any amendments to the bill.) Before senators are sent home tomorrow, not to return until after  Thanksgiving, Reid’s other plan is to hold another test vote on legislation to boost the nation’s cybersecurity shield. Republicans are destined to stop the bill again, on the grounds it would prompt more inappropriate federal regulations on business. At that point, Obama will feel free to issue an executive order setting voluntary computer network protection federal standards for utilities, banks and other economically critical businesses.

THE HOUSE: Convened at noon to pass four noncontroversial bills and clear a fifth, authorizing a new natural gas pipeline serving New York City to pass under the Gateway national park. GOP leaders think all five can advance on voice votes.
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Petraeus May Face Congressional Subpoena

Gen. David H. Petraeus may have resigned, but he may still be called upon to testify before Congress about the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Photo By Tom Williams/CQC Roll Call

Feinstein has called upon Petraeus to testify before Congress about the attacks in Libya.

CQ Roll Call‘s Emily Cadei reports:

[Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.,] told MSNBC that the intelligence community has refused to give her access to a trip report from Petraeus’ visit to Benghazi last month. Petraeus was scheduled to appear before both the Senate and House Intelligence Committees this week, but instead shocked the Washington establishment Nov. 9 by announcing he was resigning because of an extramarital affair.

“We have asked to see the trip report. One person tells me he has read it, and then we tried to get it, and they tell me it hasn’t been done,” Feinstein said. “That’s unacceptable. We are entitled to this trip report. And if we have to go to the floor of the Senate on a subpoena, we will do just that.

“I have no doubt now that we will need to talk with David Petraeus,” she added. “And we will likely do that in closed session. But it will be done, one way or the other.”

Read the full story on RollCall.com.

Capitol Hill Information on Petraeus Confined to a Small Circle

Just days after CIA Director David H. Petraeus resigned, citing an extramarital affair, it appears a small circle of Congressional leaders were made aware of the situation.

Photo by CQ Roll Call

David H. Petraeus resigned last week after admitting he had an extramarital affair.

Roll Call‘s Daniel Newhauser reports:

The circle of congressional leaders who knew early on of a possible extramarital affair surrounding CIA Director David H. Petraeus appears to have been very small, with John A. Boehner’s office confirming that the speaker was told of Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s knowledge of the situation after the news of Petraeus’ resignation broke.

The scandal that felled Petraeus’ storied military and intelligence career first came to light on Capitol Hill when an informant tipped a rank-and-file congressman off to the fact that Petraeus was having an affair.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., was told in October by a friend that a whistle-blower had information that implicated Petraeus, the retired four-star general and top CIA official, in an extramarital affair that may also have involved a national security breach.

To read the full story, click here.

Read more about Petraeus’ resignation here.

Post-Election, Team Obama Takes Victory Lap

With Tuesday’s election complete, President Barack Obama’s campaign team is taking a victory lap and explaining how it increased minority turnout to win big in battleground states.

Photo by Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call

A crowd collects in front of the White House to celebrate President Barack Obama's victory on election night.

Roll Call‘s Shira Toeplitz reports:

A successful coalition of Hispanic, black and female voters delivered wins in key battleground states, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina emphasized in a conference call with reporters.

Messina declared that Obama won a “record” 71 percent of the Latino vote. He said minority turnout increased to 28 percent this cycle, while women maintained their same percentage as in 2008.

“The issues that Latino voters care about, like everyone else, are the economy, jobs, education,” Messina said. “But they watched the Republican party in the primary use them as a political football.”

In Florida, Messina claimed that Obama won a majority of Cuban voters, a traditionally conservative sector of the Hispanic vote. Messina predicted that Obama would be declared the winner of the Sunshine State’s 29 electoral votes later today, bringing the total to 332 electoral votes.

Read the full story on RollCall.com.