Gingrich Downplays Rift in House GOP

As House Republicans prepare for a possible confrontation over their fractured leadership, Speaker Newt Gingrich declared Monday that he will use his power in “whatever way is needed” to close fissures within GOP ranks.

In his first extended public comments in the wake of disclosures that he escaped an ouster attempt allegedly engineered by his top lieutenants, Gingrich suggested that the ill-fated coup was a tribute to the strains created by seeking broad political change.

“Managing the process of change is much more difficult than maintaining the status quo,” Gingrich told a group of businessmen in his Georgia congressional district. “It is not altogether surprising that we have made mistakes, experienced conflicts or doubts, and undergone moments of uncertainty. It is not even surprising that we have at times forgotten that we are a team.”

While Gingrich has been urging fellow Republicans to put the palace intrigue behind them and focus on more pressing legislative business, some Republicans are not ready to let the matter rest until they get a full airing of the roles played in the coup attempt by Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and GOP conference Chairman John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) and other party moderates--who, ironically, have emerged among the strongest defenders of a speaker who has been an icon of conservatism--are pushing for a confrontation with the other three leaders as early as Wednesday, when the House GOP holds its weekly caucus behind closed doors.

“These three elected leaders need to account for their behavior,” LaHood said in an interview. “We need to clear the air before we can move on.”

Christina Martin, Gingrich’s spokeswoman, said the speaker agreed that the party needed to meet and discuss the controversy. “There are several questions the rank-and-file ought to have an opportunity to have answered. But he thinks we should not dwell on this or allow it to stand in the way of our larger goals.”

Whatever happens next, it is clear the dust has not yet settled on last week’s revelations that a faction of about 20 conservative rebels--who said they acted with the encouragement of top GOP leaders--plotted to oust Gingrich by forcing the House to vote on a motion to declare the speaker’s chair vacant. The plot fell apart after Gingrich got wind of it. He has since accepted the resignation of one of his top lieutenants, Rep. Bill Paxon (R-N.Y.), the only member of the leadership team who serves by appointment of Gingrich himself.

Some of the back-bench rebels reportedly are still considering taking a run at ousting Gingrich--perhaps as early as tonight--but others seem to have lost the stomach for it.

Said one strategist for the rebel faction: “In light of the events of last week, if there is going to be a discussion, it should be done in the Republican conference” behind closed doors.

In his remarks in Smyrna, Ga., Gingrich did not directly address whether he would seek additional changes in his leadership. He cast himself in the role of “head coach” of the House Republicans. “It is the head coach’s job to lead the team and to remind them, firmly if necessary, that we are, after all, a team and that we must pull together. That is a message I will deliver--in whatever way is needed--to ensure that our team works together, as a team.”

But William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard magazine and a longtime conservative critic of Gingrich, took the sports metaphor in the opposite direction, saying Gingrich should step down for the good of the team.

“He’s like the manager of a baseball team who may not be to blame for lots of problems in the team,” Kristol said. “But when the coaches are making mistakes, the mood in the clubhouse is turning sour and the players start fighting, you have to remove the manager.”