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Republican Study Committee Chairman Steve Scalise is demanding that President Barack Obama fire his new counselor, John Podesta.

But the comment -- considering the severity of the comparison -- got Podesta off on the wrong foot with Republican leaders.

A key conservative House Republican called on President Obama Wednesday to fire his new adviser, John Podesta, after Podesta compared the House GOP to members of the Jonestown cult who were responsible for 918 deaths in 1978.

Republican Study Committee Chairman (RSC) Chairman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) is calling for the resignation of White House counselor John Podesta for comparing the House Republicans to Jonestown cult. Podesta was named to the post just one week earlier.

The bill is the work of the House Republican Study Committee, led by Rep. Steve Scalise. So far it has 116 co-sponsors, which is an important number because it is more than half the Republican caucus in the GOP-controlled House."We're at a majority of the majority who support the bill," says one well-connected Hill aide. "We've had a number of members of the Republican Study Committee who have expressed to House leadership a desire to vote on an Obamacare alternative."