Former Home Speaker Denny Hastert informed the Day-to-day Beast on Thursday that the “Hastert Rule”—an unofficial mandate that a Republican speaker no longer convey a bill to the ground until it has nearly all of the GOP caucus’ beef up—was supposed extra as his personal guideline than because the hard-and-fast rule it’s come to be taken as.

“The Hastert Rule by no means really existed,” Hastert said. “It’s a non-entity so far as I’m involved.”

The Hastert Rule has been mentioned ceaselessly because Boehner changed into speaker in 2010, including all through the present brinksmanship over a continuing decision. Hastert, who served as speaker from 1998 until the Democrats regained the Home in 2007, traced the starting place of the rule of thumb to a 2006 press convention, when a reporter requested if he would convey a bill with more Democratic than Republican votes, and Hastert replied that counting on the minority caucus was once “one thing I might no longer in most cases do.”

“In most cases speaking, I wanted to have a majority of my majority, as a minimum 1/2 of my conference,” Hastert said. “This wasn’t a rule. I was once talking philosophically at the time…The Hastert Rule is kind of a misnomer.”

“The true Hastert Rule is 218,” he brought. “If we needed to work with Democrats, we did.”

Hastert didn’t explicitly criticize Boehner for the federal government shutdown, however did counsel order and compromise in finances negotiations.

“I don’t need to overmanage John Boehner,” Hastert stated. “I’m no longer in his footwear. However when we had things that have been tricky to do, I was once constantly engaged—sitting at the desk, bringing in conservatives, moderates. That you may’t be in Congress and shut down govt and get anything else carried out. It’s an oxymoron.”

[h/t Day by day Beast]

[Image by means of Chicago Tribune]

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