Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) said Monday that he is considering challenging House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for the GOP’s top leadership post in the 111th Congress.

“I’m mulling it over,” he told Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

So far, Boehner has managed to stave off the competition in his quest to retain the Minority Leader job for another two years. His relative security comes despite the fact House Republicans lost more than 20 seats in the Nov. 4 elections.

That still could change, however. Lungren, a conservative House Republican, said Congressional leaders have “failed people on fiscal responsibility” over the last six years.

On helping the struggling economy, Lungren suggested Congress consider “at least freezing expenditures” in areas not considered top priorities. Congress “even might think about stopping funding” for programs ranked lowest in priority, Lungren said.

He also rejected the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy — an idea embraced by some Democrats and President-elect Obama.