House Republican “Leader” John Boehner went on television again on Sunday and told George Stephanopoulos that he would not bring a clean CR to the floor of the House for a vote, because he say, the bill will not pass. But the White House and other Democrats disagree, and they are asking Boehner to prove them wrong.
The White House on Sunday challenged Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to prove his assertion in an ABC News interview that “there are not the votes in the House” to pass a “clean” continuing resolution.
“If he’s right, why not prove it?” White House press secretary Jay Carney asked on Twitter. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House’s senior adviser for communications, tweeted that either Boehner “is all wrong or all his members are lying.”
“That files in the face of all the math and public statements of GOP members,” Pfeiffer said.
Democrats have repeatedly called on Boehner to allow a vote on a so-called “clean” Senate bill that would reopen the government for a short period of time, but not include Republican demands to delay or defund ObamaCare.
A whip count by The Washington Post found that 20 Republican representatives supported a so-called clean continuing resolution (CR), with another four counted as “leaning yes.” If all 200 Democrats voted for the legislation, they would need just 17 Republicans to vote with them.
Boehner made the comment during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” after host George Stephanopoulos asked him if he was “prepared to schedule a clean bill on government funding.”
When Stephanopoulos pressed Boehner on whether it was true that the votes did not exist, the Speaker said that the American people expected leaders in Washington to “sit down and have a conversation.”
“We’re interested in having a conversation about how we open the government and how we begin to pay our bills,” Boehner said. “But it begins with a simple conversation.”
Other Democrats have also seized on Boehner’s assertion, daring the Speaker to bring the clean CR to a vote.
