WASHINGTON — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says she’s not sure if she’ll miss retiring Speaker John Boehner — even as she praised him as “a very fine person.”
But she dismissed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s claim that Boehner cut a deal with Pelosi to fund President Barack Obama’s administration and all of its priorities through its remaining 16 months in office — including implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, health care reform and keeping federal dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood — before landing a lobbying job.
“No, I wish that were true,” Pelosi told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview on “State of the Union” Sunday.
“I don’t know about the K Street cushy job, but I wish the rest of it were true, but of course not,” Pelosi said. “All we have agreed is that we have to honor the calendar which says that on September 30th the fiscal year ends and we have to have a continued resolution to take us forward as we prepare for our omnibus bill which will take us thought the next year.”
Boehner on Friday announced his retirement after nearly five years as speaker. He’ll step down at the end of October — once the current fiscal fight is in the rearview mirror, although it could end with a measure that simply delays the battle until December.
Pelosi offered praise for Boehner, but — after years of fights over Obama’s agenda — said she’s not sure she’ll miss him.
“I have respect for my colleagues, I respect the people who send them here, I respect the fact that their caucus elected them to a leadership position,” Pelosi said. “So John Boehner is a very fine person, he had his glorious moment with the Pope coming this week, he is a devout Catholic, we can agree to disagree without being negative about each other.”
“I don’t know if I’ll miss him, ” she said. “But it depends on what comes next.”
