Q&A With Gov. Brian Sandoval (Part II)

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Gov. Brian Sandoval has cut a lower, less-partisan profile than many Republican chiefs executive.

But as a Hispanic Republican and the relatively popular leader of a Western swing state that sided with President Barack Obama last November, Sandoval might be uniquely qualified to offer his party political advice as it seeks to recover in the wake of the disappointing 2012 elections.

In part two of our discussion pulled from my wide-ranging interview conducted earlier this week in the governor’s private office in Nevada’s historic Capitol, Sandoval sounded off on how efforts to change U.S. immigration law might affect the GOP nationally, and what he really thought when 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney talked about “self deportation” as an immigration policy.

The governor revealed some of his thinking about the political landscape at home ahead of the 2014 and 2016 elections and discussed how the actions of the Congress and the White House, or lack thereof, have affected his ability to help Nevada recover from an economic downturn that was felt more acutely in the Silver State than perhaps any other state in the nation.

And we closed the interview with a short segment on Sandoval’s choice of footwear — and discovered a Capitol Hill connection.

Q. Over time, will the Senate immigration reform proposal help the image of the GOP with different ethnic demographics?

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Camp Takes Aim at Romney’s Favorite Tax Break

Eliminating the carried interest provision from the U.S. tax code is on the table as a part of comprehensive tax overhaul, House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp confirmed on Thursday.

In a brief interview following the Christian Science Monitor breakfast briefing with reporters, the Michigan Republican would not rule out eliminating the loophole, which famously allows hedge funds but also the more standard category of investor to pay the capital gains tax rate on their earnings, rather than the standard (and higher) income tax rate. Camp also confirmed that he favors repealing the health care law’s medical device tax through comprehensive tax overhaul, rather than as a stand-alone bill.

“We’re going to look at all of the tax code and I’ve got a working group looking at [carried interest.] And, I’m going to let them make their report to the committee and have the joint committee analyze what they’ve come up with,” Camp told CQ Roll Call. “Everything’s on the table because we’re still doing our analysis of it. … It is a very intricate set of issues. I’ve got working groups that haven’t completed their work and I’m going to let them do that.”

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McConnell’s Obamacare Tax Repeal Stalls in House

House Republicans appear unlikely to move a repeal of Obamacare’s medical device tax as a standalone bill, according to multiple GOP sources.

This could disappoint Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Republican is lobbying House GOP leaders — both publicly and privately — to act in the wake of the Senate’s overwhelming, though nonbinding, bipartisan vote to repeal the tax, which functions as a key funding mechanism for President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. That vote, passed as an amendment to the nonbinding fiscal 2014 budget resolution, was 79–20 for repeal, with 33 Democrats voting in favor.

“The House is not ready to send any tax vehicle to the Senate right now,” a Republican lobbyist with relationships on both ends of Capitol Hill said.

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Interview With Speaker Boehner: The Sequester Is Here to Stay (Part II)

Boehner acknowledged he likes a glass of Merlot from time to time, but he wouldn’t elaborate. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

In part two of Speaker John A. Boehner’s question-and-answer exchange with CQ Roll Call, the Ohio Republican dishes on hot-button issues such as the sequester — he suggests it’s probably here to stay — immigration changes, gun control and the fiscal 2014 budget.

But we also discussed the public’s perception of the ambitious, impatient House Republican majority that he leads and how he feels about a conservative activist community that expects much and criticizes nearly every concession the Ohioan makes to the reality that House Republicans alone do not control all levers of the federal government.

During parts one and two of our Q&A with Boehner, he was reasonably more candid given our focus on the myriad problems the Republican Party faces today and what he can do to help fix them. But in response to our final question of part two — one of a slightly personal nature, the speaker obfuscated.

Read all the way through and check it out for yourself.

CQ Roll Call: Has it been a challenge to battle President Barack Obama on the sequester when your conference was divided between those who think it’s fine and those who are concerned that it will have a negative effect on national security and military readiness? Have you concluded that the sequester is here to stay?

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Cantor Moving Legislation Aimed at Rehabing GOP Brand

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

With House Republicans taking fire from every angle, including inside their party, for failing to connect their philosophical principles to voters’ everyday concerns, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is taking action.

With the blessing of the leadership team and top GOP committee chairmen, the Virginia Republican is spearheading a host of legislation that is somewhat remarkable both in what it does, and does not, attempt to address. In the traditional sense, these bills are not focused on reducing the deficit, shrinking the national debt or limiting the size and scope of government. They are focused on using Washington’s power levers to influence public policy.

That effort began last week with the introduction of the SKILLS Act, legislation aimed at improving job training. Whether House Republicans handled the roll out of the SKILLS Act to maximize the public relations aspect of the bill is another story. The introduction was drowned out by coverage of the continuing resolution, an East Coast snow storm and Sen. Rand Paul’s, R-Ky., filibuster. But Cantor made clear that there is more to come on this front. Full story

Interview With Speaker Boehner: ‘We Need to Do a Better Job’ (Part I)

Boehner said he’s “far from done” with being speaker. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Since November’s electoral letdown, congressional Republicans have been under fire from inside their party over their inability to connect with voters.

Conservative thinkers have pilloried them as intellectually vapid and stuck in the 1980s, radio talkers have blasted them as politically inept and at least one GOP governor called them stupid. Speaker John A. Boehner’s response? Essentially: I hear you.

In part one of the Ohio Republican’s written question-and-answer exchange with CQ Roll Call, the Speaker discussed the current state of the GOP and the role of the House majority in rehabilitating its decrepit reputation. Boehner also talked about why he abandoned bilateral negotiations with President Barack Obama and attempted to dismiss suggestions that 2014 will be his last year as Speaker.

Check this space Tuesday morning for part two of our interview, which includes a focus on the issues currently before Congress.

CQ Roll Call: What is the role of House Republicans in helping the party achieve resurgence in popularity with voters? What is your role in helping them achieve that goal?

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