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Boehner Won’t Punish Coup Plotters

Speaker John A. Boehner told GOP members Friday morning that he isn’t seeking vengeance after a fledgling coup attempt made his re-election as speaker more eventful than predicted.

“I don’t hold grudges, and my door is always open to you,” the Ohio Republican told the defectors in his first closed-door meeting with his conference, after thanking those who had voted against him. Boehner received 220 votes for speaker on Thursday, when nine Republicans voted for someone else and three abstained from voting.

The conference then ratified committee assignments previously chosen by the GOP Steering Committee.

Several of those who abstained or voted against Boehner had been granted plum committee assignments, including Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., who was awarded a spot on the Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Raúl R. Labrador, R-Idaho, who was granted a spot he requested on the Judiciary Committee.

Although the Steering Committee meted out punishments to four rebellious Republicans in early December, stripping them from key committee assignments, the GOP can ill afford to isolate all the members involved in the failed coup whose numbers reached as high as 20, according to some Republicans.

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