John Boehner will likely step down as House speaker next year, sparking a spirited race among Republicans to replace him, says Rep. Tim Huelskamp.
"I'm not for certain what he plans on doing, but every indication I've seen is he's going to cash out," Huelskamp, R-Kan., told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"There will be a race for a new speaker, and there are a lot of names out there, and I'm looking for somebody who's not a Beltway insider," he said Tuesday.
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Among the possible replacements, Huelskamp said, are Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Tom Price of Georgia, and Jeb Hensarling of Texas.
"[They are] people that understand what the core of the Republican Party is and understand that this president, this president's not willing to negotiate," he said.
"You've got to defeat him, you've got to beat him, you've got to push back, you've got to fight for legislative priorities, you've got to fight to make sure that people are heard. It's not a respond game. We've got to go on offense."
Huelskamp says President Barack Obama's plan to use an executive order to increase the minimum wage for federal workers is an attempt "to distract from the real issue, and that's this failed economy."
"I don't think we're going to hear tonight . . . the fact that there's 24.2 million Americans looking for a full-time job," he said.
"It is a very serious threat when the president's decided he's going to become like a dictator."
Huelskamp says Republican lawmakers must strive to get out of Washington more often to explore the issues.
"This is a fundamental problem, not just on immigration but on tax policy. They're not doing anything on tax policy either, and I just don't think they're listening, and so, fundamentally, as [Sen.] Ted Cruz said last fall, they're not listening," Huelskamp said.
"There are some people, including members of leadership," he said, "that would like to divide Republicans and get rid of those rascally tea party conservative Republicans, get back to the business of spending money."
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