By Richard Cohen; Politico

House Minority Leader John Boehner today delivered scathing criticism of House operations and promised major congressional reforms if he becomes speaker following the November election.

“The House finds itself in a state of emergency. The institution does not function, does not deliberate and seems incapable of acting on the will of the people. From the floor to the committee level, the integrity of the House has been compromised,” according to prepared remarks of Boehner’s speech this afternoon at the American Enterprise Institute.

He made clear that the problems go back many years and Republicans were guilty of abusing House rules on debate and procedure when they ran Congress. But Boehner was especially pointed in criticizing recent House actions and inactions, including Democratic leaders’ failure this week to permit a House vote on tax cuts that are scheduled to expire in December.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office – along with the White House – have already issued lengthy rebuttals to Boehner’s speech.

“Leading independent advocates for congressional reform credit House Democrats for taking tough action that ensured unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency,” said Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami. “No speech or pledge by Mr. Boehner is going to change the Republicans’ dismal record. When the GOP was in charge, they quadrupled earmarks and legislated behind closed doors on behalf of corporate special interests.”

The speech did not name Pelosi — nor other current or past House leaders. But Boehner’s critical references to her are unmistakable. And his speech likely may become a frequent reference point by Republican candidates during the closing weeks of the GOP campaign to take control of the House.

He cited, for example, the House’s failure this year to consider a budget resolution and to pass appropriations bills.
“The dysfunction has now reached a tipping point — a point at which none of us can credibly deny that it is having a negative impact on the people we serve,” Boehner said.

But offering reform ideas and actually implementing them once in power are two different things, and Boehner’s complaints raise further questions of whether his proposed reforms are realistic.

Boehner cited recommendations that Republicans unveiled last week in their Pledge to America — including the requirement of constitutional authority for legislation, and 72-hour public notice before the House can debate a bill.

But the largest focus of his speech is on the need to change budget procedures—including a possible rewrite of the Budget Act itself. Those requirements are often waived or ignored, he complained.

“Aided by a structure that facilitates spending increases and discourages spending cuts, the inertia in Washington is currently to spend -- and spend -- and spend,” Boehner says. He said that individual agencies and departments should be funded on their merits, rather than in comprehensive spending bills.

Such an approach likely would trigger major resistance at the Appropriations Committee. Boehner has frequently clashed with that panel because of his continuing opposition to the use of spending earmarks, on which he has had limited success. In his speech, he said the future of the current GOP moratorium will be a “collective decision,” and he made no new commitments.

He did not confine his criticism to the appropriators. Boehner — who chaired for five years what was then the House Education and the Workforce Committee — also lambasted House and Senate authorizing committees for having “abdicated their responsibility, often authorizing billions of dollars knowing full well they will never actually be appropriated.”

He advocated a new "CutGO" rule, which would force advocates of a new government program to simultaneously terminate or reduce spending on an existing government program of equal or greater size. If strictly enforced, such a rule presumably would bite conservative lawmakers who want to add new Pentagon or law-enforcement programs, for example.

In a nod to reality, Boehner concluded that this is merely a starting point.

“Some of them may get off the ground in the next Congress; others may not.” He recalled that his reform efforts as a junior House member met with varied reaction from colleagues, including fellow Republicans. “Some would walk the other way. Some would put themselves directly in my face.”