John Boehner To Leave Congress, Speaker Of The House Position Next Month
John Boehner is set to resign from his seat and the Speaker of the House post in the U.S. House of Representatives by the end of October, according to members of his staff. As Speaker of the House, Rep. Boehner was second in the line of succession for the Presidency of the United States, making the Speaker one of the most powerful individuals in American politics.
The New York Times reported the news about Rep. Boehner abandoning his position on Friday morning, and scant details have yet to emerge about Boehner’s official lines of reasoning for his decision. The paper noted that the Speaker has been “under extreme pressure from the right wing of his conference” as the debate has raged over how funds will be allocated to Planned Parenthood.
On Thursday, The Hill reported that Rep. Boehner and his team would be meeting Friday in order to discuss a plan of action that allows them to continue the fight against Planned Parenthood and not force the government into shutdown on Oct. 1. A senior House GOP aide told the paper that Rep. Boehner plans to introduce a reconciliation bill in order to defund Planned Parenthood and still keep the government functioning until Dec. 11.
If successful with the reconciliation bill, Mr. Boehner could potentially get the bill to the president’s desk before he resigns from his Congressional seat next month. An aide close to the GOP leadership told the Washington, D.C. political blog, Roll Call, that the strategy was part of larger effort to continue the fight against abortion.
“[We are] making sure we advance the pro-life cause… significantly ramping up our oversight and investigative activities… sending more pro-life measures to the Senate and urging [senators] to vote on them.”
Rep. Boehner took the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011. During his time as Speaker, he was faced with an extremely divided legislative body that inched toward government shutdown multiple times.
Speaker Boehner has also often been chided by the media for his emotional responses to activities within the House of Representatives. Most recently, John got teary-eyed when Pope Francis visited on Thursday morning. Several news outlets, noted New York Daily News, even predicted that Boehner would get choked up during the visit. Some have even pieced together all of John’s misty moments into a compilation video.
Since 1991, John Boehner has served as the U.S. Representative from Ohio’s 8th congressional district. From 2007 to 2011, he was the House minority leader, moving up to the Speaker of the House position when Democrats lost their majority in the House in 2011. His resignation marks the end of a nearly 25-year term in Congress.
[Image via Alex Wong/Getty Images]
