House Speaker John A. Boehner said he expects to be speaker again next year, but declined Monday to say he would definitely serve out another full term in Congress.
“I’m running for re-election; I expect to be speaker,” said Mr. Boehner, speaking in San Antonio to the Texas Tribune and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
The Ohio Republican just won his primary last week, easily seeing off a tea party-backed challenger, though there are some Republicans within Congress who have said they would like to see the party have new leadership.
Mr. Boehner, though, said he has good relationships with both fellow Republicans and Democrats in the House.
In a 35-minute chat with Texas Tribune Editor in Chief Evan Smith, Mr. Boehner said he does still want to get an immigration bill done but repeated his insistence that President Obama make some form of overture to prove to House Republicans he would enforce any law Congress passes.
Mr. Boehner also delved slightly into the policy specifics on immigration, saying that any pathway to citizenship for current illegal immigrants would have to be okay with legal immigrants who suffered through the process correctly.
“Here’s the test — there are a lot of people who waited in line, went through the process, as the law points out. Some of them it took 10 years, 20 years, to get through the process. They are the people I will look to,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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