Is the biggest threat to Speaker of the House John Boehner the ‘Young Guns’ in his own party?

My grandmother used to say: be careful what you wish for. It appears that there may be trouble in paradise. They rode in to Washington DC with the victories from November as if they were the second coming. They failed to realize that eventually people would really start listening to the words they were saying. I hope Boehner can hold it together.

The freshman representative stood in front of a throng of puzzled-looking Republican congressmen. Their leader, John Boehner, had surprised the newcomer moments earlier by asking him to address a 2009 party retreat on how he had knocked off a Republican congressman in a primary. The freshman, a hard-charging Utah conservative named Jason Chaffetz, looked out at his new colleagues and said the first thing that came to his mind.

“I am your worst nightmare.”

He might as well have been speaking to the leader himself. Boehner already was feeling the heat from relatively young conservatives such as Chaffetz who wanted to push their agenda harder and faster, inspired by a passionate trio of Republican stars known as the Young Guns. Then-Republican Whip Eric Cantor, his deputy whip, Kevin McCarthy, and Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan all had captivated House conservatives with their aggressive messages and tactics. Cantor especially had made a name for himself by arguing that the party should go on the offensive more against House Democrats. Privately, some Republicans said they would vote for Cantor over Boehner in a leadership fight. Now, increasingly, as the Young Guns’ popularity grew, Boehner sought to bring fledgling congressmen like Chaffetz into his fold.

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