House Speaker John Boehner To Resign
Big news out of Washington, D.C.
In a move that is coming as a surprise to pretty much everyone in Washington and around the country, The New York Times reported today that John Boehner, who has been Speaker Of The House for some four and a half years and a Member of Congress since 1991, will be resigning Congress at the end of October:
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, under intense pressure from conservatives in his party, will resign one of the most powerful positions in government and give up his House seat at the end of October, throwing Congress into chaos as it tries to avert a government shutdown.
Mr. Boehner, who was first elected to Congress in 1990, made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning.
The Ohio representative struggled from almost the moment he took the speaker’s gavel in 2011 to manage the challenges of divided government and to hold together his fractious and increasingly conservative Republican members.
Most recently, Mr. Boehner, 65, was trying to craft a solution to keep the government open through the rest of the year, but was under pressure from a growing base of conservatives who told him that they would not vote for a bill that did not defund Planned Parenthood. Several of those members were on a path to remove Mr. Boehner as speaker, though their ability to do so was far from certain.
More from The Washington Post, which reports that Boehner says he chose to step aside to avoid a divisive leadership fight:
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), faced with a constant conservative rebellion, told Republicans Friday morning that he will resign at the end of October, according to aides and lawmakers in a closed-door meeting.
The resignation will end a nearly five-year reign as speaker, allowing House Republicans to approve a short-term government funding bill that will avert a shutdown of federal agencies. Boehner’s hold on the speaker’s gavel had grown increasingly unsteady amid threats from more than 30 Republicans that they would force a no-confidence vote in his speaker’s position, which would have forced him to rely on Democratic votes in order to remain in charge. It’s unclear whether Boehner is just resigning the speakership next month or also abandoning his House seat.
The shocking move means there’s unlikely to be a government shutdown next week. Following Boehner’s announcement, House Republicans said there was agreement to pass a clean spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Several members of the Freedom Caucus, the conservative group which led the revolt against Boehner’s leadership, said they will now support the spending bill without demands to defund Planned Parenthood attached to it.
“The commitment has been made that there will be no shutdown,” said Rep. John Flemming, (R-La.).
The House intends to vote next week on a clean spending bill and then move on to budget reconciliation — where, Republicans said, both repealing the Affordable Care Act and stripping Planned Parenthood of funding will be considered.
Reconciliation bills are considered under special rules that require only a simple majority to pass and they cannot be filibustered in the Senate.
Boehner, who capped his career with Thursday’s address by Pope Francis, met with a handful of the most conservative Republicans after the papal address to lay out the plan to fund the government. But those rebels continued to agitate and threaten to force a vote at sometime in the near future to vacate his speakership.
A believer in the institution, Boehner decided to walk away on his own terms rather than relying on Democratic support or becoming the first speaker to lose the gavel midterm.
(…)
Boehner’s departure is rooted in deep conservative discontent with the way he has handle his majority — in particular, what they haveseen as an unwillingness to stand up to President Obama.
“He’s run circles around us since John Boehner was speaker of the House,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.). “I think it’s a victory for the American people.”
Huelskamp said it was “clear that he did not have the votes to remain as speaker unless Nancy Pelosi helped him out, which is obviously a very vulnerable position.”
“Obviously the pope had a big impact on him, said Rep. Richard Nugent (R-Fla.) ” That’s about the most selfless act I’ve sever seen, willing to step down to save this country and save this nation.”
Nugent, who did not support Boehner in the January speaker election, said the room was uniformly shocked — including McCarthy, who told the conference immediately afterwards that he had only a moment’s notice of Boehner’s decision, Nugent said.
The resignation sets up a bruising leadership race that will represent a long-delayed open clash between conservative and establishment Republicans.
This announcement comes in the context of yet another difficult September for Boehner and the rest of the leadership in the House and Senate. Back in July, before the summer recess, a little known Congressman from North Carolina had filed a motion aimed at removing Boehner from the Speaker’s chair. This was really just the latest round in a war that had been waged against the Ohio Congressman since taking office back in January 2011 by the hard right Tea Party wing of the House Republican Caucus. It started during the Debt Ceiling Showdown in the summer of 2011 when a restive Tea Party Caucus that rejected the idea of any compromise at all made it difficult if not impossible for Boehner to make any deals with the White House or the Democrats in Congress and sent the nation to the brink of default. Even when that crisis was averted with a deal that gave the Tea Party about as much of what they were asking for as they could have reasonably expected, the purists continued to attack Boehner throughout the remainder of 2011 and into 2012, when Tea Party groups were funding efforts to defeat him in the primary for his House Seat and there was already talk of selecting a new Speaker when the new Congress convened in January 2013. In the end, the promised rebellion against Boehner never materialized and he was easily re-elected with only a handful of dissenters who voted for other candidates or chose to vote “present.” The same thing happened in January of this year when there were yet another round of rumors that Boehner was under threat, only to see the challenge collapse.
This time around, it seemed from the outside as if this latest rebellion would unfold in roughly the same manner as those in the past. While there were rumors about this Member of the GOP Caucus or that one joining in with the motion. Additionally, the fact that we’re heading for the end of a Fiscal Year and the threat of another government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding meant that the pressure on Boehner was once again becoming especially acute. As it stood, it was increasingly unclear if Congress would be able to avoid a shutdown despite the fact that Republican leadership in both the House and the Senate was opposed to the idea and that the American public was opposed to it as well. If it is to be avoided, it would likely require much of the same deal making and parliamentary maneuvering that Boehner has used in the past, and that was likely to enrage his Tea Party critics even more notwithstanding the fact that their shutdown strategy was both politically stupid and doomed to fail in the end anyway. If anything, Boehner stepping down means that we will likely avoid another shutdown, at least in the short term, since he will be free to make a deal that otherwise might cause trouble in the future. What kind of tone all of this sets for whomever replaces him, though, is unclear.
In the end, perhaps it was the prospect of yet another battle with that group that led Boehner to decide it was time to retire, especially given the fact that there had already been rumors circulating in Washington that Boehner may not be sticking around after the end of the current Congress regardless of the outcome of the Presidential election. For four years now, Boehner has been essentially herding cats on Capitol Hill in trying to get his party to agree to do even things that have usually been considered routine in Congress. To some degree, this was a problem of his own making because of the fact that one of the first steps House Republicans took after the 2010 elections was to eliminate earmarks, the process by which Members of Congress direct certain Federal spending that has already been allocated to their districts. Without the carrot and stick approach that earmarks allowed, Boehner and the rest of the leadership was deprived of a very powerful tool to ensure compliance in the caucus. Add to that the fact that the proliferation of outside funding sources meant that members were no longer as dependent on party organizations like the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee and you have a situation where it’s very hard for leadership to offer much of anything to get people to vote their way. Finally, perhaps it’s just the case that Boehner has finally grown tired of dealing with an intransigent minority in his own party that makes it impossible to get anything done, and which attacks him even when he gets a deal that gets them as much of what they want as they can reasonably expect. Having succeeded in what was reportedly a decades long quest to get a Pope to speak to Congress, there really wasn’t more for John Boehner to do.
Going forward, of course, there will now be a battle to determine who is going to replace Boehner as Speaker. The most logical and traditional successor, of course, would be House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy from California, however these are not logical times on Capitol Hill. McCarthy is reportedly not viewed any better by the most conservative members of the House Republican Caucus than Boehner was, so it’s likely that they would at least try to resist his ascension to the Speaker’s Chair. Beyond McCarthy, those most likely to compete for the slot include Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, who has far deeper ties to the more conservative members of the House. Additionally, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise could be a potential competitor for McCarthy, but he may be more interested in concentrating on rising to Majority Leader. Finally, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is likely to see his name mentioned as a potential Speaker just as it has been in the past, but Ryan has said repeatedly that he has no interest in becoming Speaker, and his new position as Chairman of the Ways And Means Committee is one that he’s been after for several years now. In the end, then, it is likely to be the case that McCarthy will be the consensus candidate to succeed Speaker and that there will be some token Tea Party candidate that will challenge him, but come up far short of the votes needed to win. The bigger fight is likely to be the one to succeed McCarthy as Majority Leader and, possibly, to succeed Scalise as Majority Whip. So, it will be an interesting October on Capitol Hill.
Update:: Paul Ryan has already told NBC News that he’s not running for Speaker, this likely makes McCarthy’s ascension even more likely:
Paul Ryan was just asked if he’s going to run for Speaker, and he said, “I’m not, it’s a good job for an empty nester.”
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorpNBC) September 25, 2015
Ever get the feeling that the establishment wing of the GOP is about to throw their hands up and let the kids have their way knowing that they will burn the party down to the ground? Seems to me it’s the only way to get the adults back in control.
It will be interesting to see if Boehner has anything on his bucket list — items he will push through (with Democratic support if needed) now that he does not need to worry about remaining Speaker.
I hope he does the honorable thing and uses his big podium moment to call out the irresponsible, nihilist Republicans who constantly tear down the country while complaining it’s being torn down.
Another small government guy that has been sucking on the Government tit for 25 years plus…a guy that can’t control his own caucus…a guy that has presided over the most ineffectual House ever…
In short…a guy that represents, if not the worst – close, that our Government has to offer.
The Republic will be no worse for his departure.
At one level, he’s the least effective House Speaker in the past 50 years, at another level, look who he had to deal with. Power is intoxicating, but it’s hard to believe he wanted to stick around to lead these toxic people for this long.
The Right is running out of so-called RINOs that they can blame for any failures to implement their reactionary agenda. We’ll really know that its over when Mitch McConnell resigns his Senate leadership position.
All of this is why I would only be a little surprised if Ted Cruz won the GOP nomination. That would officially end all the “but real conservatives weren’t given a chance” whining and bedwetting, wouldn’t it?
He probably decided: “ok, I’ll let the little buggers have what they want, and then THEY can see what it’s like to get stuff through Congress!”
Heck, I’m feeling the same way. I’m tired of fighting idiots. Let them run the whole place into the ground. Like Kansas–until these people have their noses rubbed good and hard in the failure of their cockeyed concepts, they’ll continue to hold on to them.
On the one hand, I’m relieved that it looks like the government won’t shut down next week. But on the flip side, I think it really, really matters who Boehner’s replacement is. The debt ceiling will have to be raised again here in the next couple of months. That would be a horrible time to have a “true believer” Conservative holding the Speaker’s gavel.
@grumpy realist:
Overly optimistic, I’m afraid.
There’s a ton of evidence that trickle-down economics does not work, that global warming is real, that rent-seekers in business are just as dependent on large government as welfare recipients – none of those facts have done a thing to persuade “these people” that their cockeyed concepts are a failure. If the country really did experience a large-scale failure, they’d just blame the opposition. One example: to this day Obama gets blamed for the economy he inherited, including the 2008 bank/auto bailouts.
Seems that the House Republicans want a Speaker who will really, really oppose the Kenyan Usurper and who will really, really shut things down ( presumably that will be McCarthy). I wonder how the base and the radical Republicans will feel after they shut down the government and find out that the rest of the country doesn’t agree that burning down the country over say, the debt ceiling ,is worth it.
My hope is that now that Boehner steps aside, that the floodgates will open and the House Republicans really get their way. Heighten the contradictions!
I think that the Republicans need to truly go hog wild before the country decides to vote them out.It’s sad to say, but it appears that the Republicans have to drive the car off the cliff before the voters take away the car keys.
Peter King (R-NY):
Of course Peter King is……crazy himself.
I am more worried by this than previous commenters. Turning over a very important position to the crazies seems fraught with danger to me. When people’s ideas fail, people often do not reject their ideas but become more devoted. America is full of religions that proclaimed an end of the earth for some specific date and when their prophesy failed continued on their merry way. All over the earth we can find true believers in Communism, fascistic nationalism, or radical religions who continue their devotion despite, or maybe because of, the obvious failures of their ideology; Americans are no different. No matter how badly they fail, people cling to their ideas. The nut wing Republicans will not change their minds if they fail; they will see failure as a test of their faith calling them to greater devotion to it.
Here is the problem. The right wing radicals think their minority views are the views of the rest of the nation. Their delusion has really hurt this nation.
BTW, The election of the new Speaker will be interesting. Will there be someone that all the Republicans get behind? Or can there be a Speaker elected with Democratic support? Given that the Speaker is third in line to the Presidency, one would hope that the vote is seriously considered.
@C. Clavin:
I think Steve King of Iowa is a nutcase, Peter is relatively normal.
@stonetools:
In the world of “politics as sport” that makes a bit of sense.
But in the actual world we live in, a whole lot of people (I’ll admit a bit of self interest, me included) may experience some real economic pain as a result of a government shutdown. And if they screw around with the debt ceiling in the wrong way, literally the entire world economy could suffer the consequences.
Some things are more important than “our team” gaining some sort of political advantage. I really hope that the Conservatives are unable to get enough votes to elect a “real Conservative” and we end up with someone no worse than Boehner. lol, heck best case scenario is that they go several votes without getting a majority and have to turn to Democrats for help … in which case maybe we even get someone more willing to compromise (dreaming a bit, sorry).
Heh, Ryan knows he score. The Speakership is not an enviable position these days.
Good article by Ezra Klein:
John Boehner wasn’t the speaker Republicans wanted. He was the speaker they needed.
@al-Ameda:
Both insane. Just a matter of degree.
I have a question – I don’t know how Ohio works. How will Boehner’s seat be filled for the rest of his term?
I have a question – I don’t know how Ohio works. How will Boehner’s seat be filled for the rest of his term?
Normally insightful liberal blowhard on Twitter said if you identified as liberal and felt bad for Boehner, you were worse than the Tea Party.
Something tells me the team players are not having the correct reaction to this event.
@Tillman: I’m one of the people who can feel bad for Boehner. As wrote on the other thread:
My first thought when I saw this was that Boehner missed an opportunity when he let the last term of congress expire without bringing the senate’s immigration bill up for a vote. I don’t know how he feel personally about the bill and I don’t exactly know if the bill would have actually passed, but if it had passed, he would have been viewed as a more succeessful speaker and he would have secured a better legacy. It would have lead to the end of his speakership but some of us knew that a day like today could come at any time. He should have done something consequential when he had the chance.
@Tillman:
I totally agree. The rational reaction from Democrats to this turn of events should be fear.
… and really it probably should be the same for Republicans, but by this point in time who really expects Conservatives to react rationally to anything?
FTFY, NYT.
Honestly, if I were an editor at a major news outlet, I would ban the word ‘conservative’ from everything but the fashion pages.
Whuh?
Let me get this straight — the wingnut position was “We believe so firmly in the sanctity of unborn life that we are willing to shut down the government rather than pass a spending bill that includes any funding at all to Planned Parenthood. Unless John Boehner resigns, in which case we’re OK with a clean CR.”
What am I missing here?
Yep, no other problems facing America today. Job’s done. Congrats John.
@DrDaveT: That Boehner might have used his resignation as a negotiating tactic? The nature of the announcement makes it clear to me this wasn’t planned in advance.
@DrDaveT:
I think you are missing with whom the agreement was made. The sentence “there was agreement to pass a clean spending bill to avert a government shutdown.” leaves the reference vague. It is possible that the agreement was between the Democrats and enough Republicans who do not want a shutdown to pass it over the opposition of the rest of the Republican caucus.
@Tillman:
Yes, but that would imply what is essentially public acknowledgement that the alleged stand against Planned Parenthood was pure tactical brinksmanship to facilitate a coup within their party, unrelated to any actual moral or philosophical position or issue.
I can believe they’re that venal and cynical. It’s harder to believe that they’re stupid enough to shout it from the rooftops like that.
This idea that letting the crazies burn the country to the ground and then we, as a nation, will vote them out is just hopelessly naive. I can point to a dozen states and as many countrie that have gone from bad tonworsenunder that scenario. Nothing makes it more likely for crazies to become more entrenched than them winning leadership positions.
Look at James. He knows how bad his party has become. He is politically astute. He is a realist. Intelligent. Basically a decent guy. But in the end he continues to pull that “R” lever. As much as he loves his country he can’t bring himself to support “the other team”. And if all the craziness of the last 15 years hasn’t changed his mind, how likely do you think A little more will change the mind of the average Republican in the street?
@Moosebreath:
The Washington Post was quite explicit about the causal relationship — “[Boehner’s resignation] means there’s unlikely to be a government shutdown next week.”. (Apologies for my original incorrect attribution to the NYT.)
Now, the WaPo is perfectly capable of bad writing and/or factual error, but the story certainly seems to be claiming cause and effect here.
Here’s a fun thought: The Speaker of the House does not have to be a Representative. Could they elect Ted Cruz?
So it is theoretically possible for the non-crazy Republicans to form an alliance with the Democrats to elect a Democrat speaker? Talk about giving the crazy caucus a s**t-burger to eat 🙂
@Rick DeMent: I think the chances of that happening are nil, but man, wouldn’t it be glorious if it somehow did…
He’s leaving to spend more time with his loved ones — Johnny Walker, Jim Bean and Old Granddad.
Be scareful what you wish for, this could get bloody.
@Tony W: Waste of breath for him. Remember, they think he’s stepping down to save the union, presumably from Obama.
@Todd: Alas, you don’t understand the mindset of these whackjobs. They ARE willing to burn the country to the ground as long as they get to rule over the ashes.
@DrDaveT: The next paragraph that noted that in the budget reconciliation bill, both Affordable Care and Planned Parenthood will be defunded.
As I read the reactions from all the radicals that call themselves Conservative, I am beginning to worry about this resignation.
All the nut-bag leadership is declaring victory…they’re glad he is gone.
If Ted Cruz and Rubio and Steve Stockman and Eric Erickson and Rush Limbaugh are all applauding this…it cannot be good for the country…only bad.
Even the Heritage Foundation, the lobbying arm of the Koch Brothers Tea Party, is applauding this.
Fascinating
Thank you, Mataconis. My husband just turned on the TV and we saw this, and I said “Why!?” I didn’t know if Costa had anything yet, but it appears that he does. If the situation is as described, either the Planned Parenthood videos are about the moral character of our nation as Fiorina and Cruz memorably said or they are not. If they are about the moral character of our nation they should not be swapped just to get rid of somebody you don’t like. Meanwhile we will be treated to the spectacle of having to express the requisite hate for Planned Parenthood to be Speaker.
Thank you, Mataconis. My husband just turned on the TV and we saw this, and I said “Why!?” I didn’t know if Costa had anything yet, but it appears that he does. If the situation is as described, either the Planned Parenthood videos are about the moral character of our nation as Fiorina and Cruz memorably said or they are not. If they are about the moral character of our nation they should not be swapped just to get rid of somebody you don’t like. Meanwhile we will be treated to the spectacle of having to express the requisite hate for Planned Parenthood to be Speaker.
@Just ‘nutha ig’rant cracker:
I noticed that as well. Does this mean we are looking at a veto and then a bruising battle over the speakership prior to getting a budget or CR actually signed?
What will this mean for the next debt ceiling debate?
@4jkb4ia:
well when you consider that the videos you mention are complete fabrications….they say far more about the character of the people who claim they are real…than they do about our nation.
The word is they’ll pass a clean CR and kick this into December. Closer to the NH primary.
I swear to God, the GOP is working for Hillary.
@C. Clavin: What it means is that Carly Florina is such of a dim bulb that she could very easily be maneuvered into war by faked data.
Gee, where have we seen that before?
OT, but if you want people outside Oklahoma to stop thinking of you as a bunch of moronic hayseeds, you might want to stop giving them so much ammunition.
What do you want to bet that teacher’s a fundy Tea-hadist?
@Grewgills: My guess is “A,” with the pipe dream that when the government shuts down it will be Obama’s fault because “he rejected the budget we proposed.”
@Barfour:
Well, the Speaker still has until the end of October to cement his legacy in something, anything nobel. Perhaps he also have this in mind. I would hate to realize that he is resigning just to save face! It is still his choice to either leave as the most ineffective House speaker in history or a speaker that moved some significant policy while giving the tea party the middle finger on his way out the door!
@Just ‘nutha ig’rant cracker:
I know very little about the budget reconciliation process — does it offer a substantial increase in the probability that defunding ACA or PP would pass? If not, then it looks like the trade was 3 months of non-shutdown in exchange for Boehner leaving. If it does, then why wasn’t that the strategy from the start?
Honest questions; I really don’t understand either what the quid pro quo was here.
Boehner is the babysitter who the kids rate as “Worst. Ever!” because sometimes, hours after having approved their decision to draw on the wall and providing the crayons to do so, he comes to his senses and tells them to clean up because mom and dad will be home in ten minutes.
In a way, those kids’ assessment is close to correct, but not for the reason they think.
Is there more to this then we are seeing? Is there something else going on here? Boehner seemed worried – about something.
I am wondering – what could it be ?
@Todd: “And if they screw around with the debt ceiling in the wrong way, literally the entire world economy could suffer the consequences.”
Trigger a major recession, and then gain the Presidency in 2016.
@DrDaveT: “Let me get this straight — the wingnut position was “We believe so firmly in the sanctity of unborn life that we are willing to shut down the government rather than pass a spending bill that includes any funding at all to Planned Parenthood. Unless John Boehner resigns, in which case we’re OK with a clean CR.”
What am I missing here?”
He could bring it to a vote using Democratic Reps and some (not even that many) Republican Reps, and pass it over the objections of a strong majority of other Republican Reps.
This would lose him the Speakership, but if he’s already resigned……