How much power does the Speaker of the House have? He can stop a bill from coming to the floor despite the fact that it has the support of a clear majority of members on both sides. The Hill: House Republican leaders are under pressure to allow a vote on legislation that would curb the National Security Agency (NSA). Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has defended the NSA's spying programs, but a growing bloc of his conference is signing on to a bill that would end the NSA's practice of collecting records on virtually all U.S. phone calls, which was revealed in leaks by Edward Snowden. One House Democratic aide argued that the Republican leaders are boxed in. If they don't allow a vote on standalone NSA reform legislation, the aide said, members will demand NSA-related amendments to must-pass legislation like the defense and intelligence authorization bills."They're stuck. They would deal with this in the way they deal with a lot of things -- by just not moving the...(Read Full Post)