Boehner Plays Down Republican Dissent; Says It's Over Tactics Not Goals

(Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner played down any possible risk to his continuing leadership on Sunday, saying that disagreements with fellow Republicans were over tactics and not goals.

"We do have some members who disagree from time to time over the tactics that we decide to employ. But remember that Republicans are united in this idea that the president has far exceeded his constitutional authority," he said in an interview on the CBS program "Face the Nation."

The House narrowly averted a shutdown of funding to the Department of Homeland Security on Friday after Boehner failed to rein in conservative Republicans.

Boehner's failure to corral enough votes to fund the department for three weeks was an embarrassing rebuke that again raised questions over whether he could lead House Republicans given its outspoken caucus of restive conservatives.

Asked if he could lead the House, Boehner said, "I think so. I'm not going to suggest it's easy, because it’s not."

The speaker said that he enjoyed his job "most days - Friday wasn’t a whole lot of fun, but most days."

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Frances Kerry and Ralph Boulton)