Huelskamp: Chairmanship taken away after Boehner defection

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) on Tuesday said he had a chairmanship taken away from him shortly after he announced he would vote against Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) for Speaker.

{mosads}Huelskamp told reporters on Capitol Hill that he was expecting to be chairman of a subcommittee but that shortly after he tweeted that he’d be voting against Boehner for Speaker, he learned it was no longer going to happen.

“I tweeted out [that I wouldn’t vote for Boehner] and an hour later they called me and said, ‘you worked real hard but the leadership team wouldn’t let it happen,’ ” Huelskamp said. 

Huelskamp wouldn’t say what subcommittee chairmanship he’d been promised or who called to inform him that he would no longer get it. An email to his office has not been returned. 

But an aide familiar with the situation identified Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Calif.) as the one who delivered the news to Huelskamp that he wouldn’t be leading one of his subcommittees.

According to the aide, Miller allegedly told Huelskamp: “We pushed really hard for you but leadership decided that they’re not going to let you have it.”

A Boehner aide denied the allegations.

Huelskamp has heard from other Republicans that leadership will be eying more punishments from defectors in the next 24 to 48 hours. 

“I’m not alone,” he added, implying that House GOP leaders were retaliating against him and others for voting against the Speaker.

Rep. Randy Weber (Texas), another Republican who opposed Boehner for Speaker, made a similar claim on Tuesday.

A Weber representative told The Hill in an email that he was originally slated to be the sponsor of a noncontroversial Science, Space and Technology Committee bill that would be reintroduced on the floor this week. 

Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), who voted for Boehner, is currently the measure’s sponsor.

Huelskamp and Weber were two of the 25 Republicans who opposed Boehner, who won his third term as Speaker on Tuesday despite the defections.

Cristina Marcos contributed.