WASHINGTON - Republican conservatives in the House again look like they're insisting upon a rigid stand that's shackling Speaker John Boehner's efforts to compromise and pass an extension of a payroll-tax cut.
And a recurring question is being asked on Capitol Hill: Is Boehner a pragmatic leader adept at keeping renegade Republicans unified - or is he being led by a band of staunch ideologues who are driving the party deep into a political ditch? The Ohio Republican has faced those questions all year, ever since his party took control of the House in January, its majority swollen by tea party-backed conservatives averse to compromise.
The latest turmoil Monday involved the surprise rejection of a bipartisan Senate deal to extend beyond Dec. 31 a 2-percentage-point Social Security payroll-tax break, plus long-term unemployment benefits and current Medicare payment rates to doctors. Boehner had been expected go along with the deal, but he announced he was opposed upon hearing blockback from his caucus Saturday.
A vote that had been expected to take place Monday was pushed back to Tuesday.
"I expect that the House will disagree with the Senate," Boehner said.
The Senate on Saturday overwhelmingly approved the two-month extension. But Boehner and other House Republicans want the lower rate in effect throughout 2012.
Employees have been paying the tax at that rate this year. If no change is approved, they would pay 6.2 percent beginning Jan. 1.
Republicans contended two months would not provide employers or consumers with enough certainty to hire and spend.
"I was elected to fight for sustainable policies, not a short-term one," said Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C.
The Senate bill, passed on an 89-10 vote, was a bipartisan compromise, reached after negotiators were unable to agree on how to pay for a full-year plan. Democrats wanted a surtax on millionaires; the GOP proposal included a federal pay freeze.
A House defeat of the Senate package would set up a tense, last-minute confrontation. Leaders of the chambers would have to negotiate a compromise; Democrats, who control the Senate, balked at such talks.
"I will not reopen negotiations until the House follows through and passes this agreement that was negotiated by Republican leaders and supported by 90 percent of the Senate," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
House conservatives' refusal to go with the plan "makes the speaker look ineffective," said Gary Jacobson, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego.
Not to everyone, though.
"This is a pleasant surprise," said Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, one of the conservative grass-roots groups that helped elect dozens of House Republicans last year.
Chris Edwards, an economist at the libertarian Cato Institute, also said he believed Boehner was "doing his job - getting a majority within the Republican caucus."
But any congressional leader must build consensus to enact laws.
Newt Gingrich, speaker from 1995 to 1998, usually made sure that GOP moderates were consulted. Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, Democratic speaker from 1977 to 1987, often said he built majorities with like-minded lawmakers from both parties.
Today, the parties are far more ideologically strict, creating problems for Boehner, a strong conservative also known as a consensus-builder. He won his leadership post in a mild upset in 2006 after scandals forced a shake-up at the top of House GOP ranks. Even then, conservatives were wary of his willingness to compromise - he and liberal icon Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., had joined together to craft a major education bill.
But Boehner's collegiality, as well as his distance from the disgraced leadership, proved irresistible to many Republicans, who made him their leader. Since then, of course, hard-core conservatives have gained strength - and complicated Boehner's life.
The divide between the speaker and his hard-charging conservatives became clear quickly in 2011. He and President Obama agreed on a deal to cut $38 billion in current federal spending, but 59 House Republicans opposed the effort, which won approval only because of Democratic support.
Boehner came close to a megadeal with Obama on deficit reduction during the summer before conservative opposition forced the speaker to pull back. A lesser deal eventually was reached, but it included punting the major issues to a bipartisan "supercommittee," which wound up unable to agree. And 66 House Republicans opposed that bill.
In the latest round, Senate Republican leaders believed they had mollified the right on the payroll-tax deal, thanks to its inclusion of an expedited review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which conservatives and unions support and environmentalists oppose.
Boehner's opposition came as somewhat of a surprise because he had praised the provision on the 1,700-mile pipeline project that would stretch from western Canada to the Gulf Coast.
The Obama administration had delayed consideration until 2013.
Boehner said Monday, however, that it was "not true" he had supported the entire plan.
"What I was outlining [Saturday] was the fact that having the Keystone pipeline in here was a success," he said. "But I raised concerns about the two-month process from the moment I heard about it."
Still, a Saturday conference call with House GOP rank and file, who objected to the package, appears to have been the development that turned him around.
To some analysts, Boehner's behavior shows he's largely at the mercy of the conservatives. Meanwhile, major battles loom before this Congress expires, notably whether to adjust or cancel across-the-board spending cuts scheduled for January 2013, as well as expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.
Conservatives remain wary of Boehner.
"The tea party came in with a huge mandate, and he's done nothing," Phillips said.
In the Senate, some Republicans are furious.
"The House Republicans' plan to scuttle the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong," said Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. "We cannot allow rigid partisan ideology and unwillingness to compromise to stand in the way of working together for the good of the American people."
Ironically, Boehner's position on the payroll-tax cut could jeopardize the House GOP majority in November, particularly if the current impasse leads to higher taxes next month.
As Jacobson put it, "Republicans are putting themselves in a position to be blamed if taxes go up next week."
The $33 billion Senate package also would extend for two months the current Medicare payment rates to physicians and up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits for long-term jobless workers. The measure would be funded by higher fees charged by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The House last week, on a largely party-line vote, approved extending the programs for a year. The package was funded by other means, notably a federal pay freeze. And it gradually reduced the maximum number of weeks from 99 to 59.
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