Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) just delivered his resignation announcement this morning. Effective Oct. 30, Boehner will resign his Congressional seat. According to a Republican aide, Boehner cites Eric Cantor’s 2014 defeat and his meeting with Pope Francis among his reasons for vacating his position. According to one of Boehner’s aides:
“Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all.”
Boehner’s resignation announcement is not really all that surprising, to me anyway. The Speaker has been under intense pressure from hard-line conservatives who have accused him of failing to effectively fight the Obama administration on issues that the GOP believes to be paramount. These antagonistic members of the far-right have been pushing to oust Boehner if the Speaker presented any legislation that would avoid another government shutdown without defunding Planned Parenthood.
As a means to prevent a full-on insurrection, Boehner has opted to sacrifice himself. Interestingly, I actually find this to be a classy move. According to Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the Speaker
“just does not want to become the issue,” as “some people have tried to make him the issue both in Congress and outside.”
An aide has claimed that Boehner had actually intended to retire at the end of last year, but Eric Cantor’s jaw-dropping defeat to David Bratt in the 2014 Virginia primary put the brakes on those plans.
Boehner’s resignation announcement could further divide the party, despite his altruistic intentions of protecting the Republican institution. After all, Boehner loyalists and those ready and willing to topple the Speaker have lashed out at each other, contributing to what seems to be a never-ending saga of Republican infighting.
Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) said that
“the honor of John Boehner this morning stands in stark contrast to the idiocy of those members who seek to continually divide us.”
However, to some GOP hardliners, Boehner’s resignation announcement is welcome news. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) claimed it is “time for new leadership” and Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) has claimed that Boehner “subverted our Republic.”
John Boehner has served in the United States Congress since 1991, representing Ohio’s 8th District. He was elected House Majority Leader in 2006, then relegated to House Minority Leader in 2007 after Democrats took control of the House in the 2006 mid-term elections. Boehner became Speaker of the House in 2011, following massive Republican gains in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
