WASHINGTON—House Speaker John Boehner warned Sunday against “false prophets” in his own party making unrealistic promises, saying his resignation had averted a government shutdown this week but not the GOP’s broader battle over how to wield power.
Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Boehner unloaded against conservatives long outraged that even with control of both houses of Congress, Republicans have not succeeded on key agenda items, such as repealing President Barack Obama’s health care law and striking taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood.
He refused to back down from calling one of the tea party-styled leaders and presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, a “jackass.”
“Absolutely they’re unrealistic,” Boehner said. “The Bible says, ‘Beware of false prophets.’ And there are people out there spreading noise about how much can get done.”
Until, that is, Boehner met Pope Francis.
The Roman-Catholic Ohio congressman described spending the day with his spiritual leader as deeply moving and a factor in the timing of his resignation announcement. Boehner said he had originally planned on revealing his plan to leave Congress in November. Away from the cameras, Francis floored Boehner by asking the speaker to pray for him—“I did,” Boehner said. “Well, you can imagine, I was a mess.” The pope blessed Boehner’s newest grandchild and spoke to Congress about resisting forces that divide people. And by the end of the day, Boehner said, “it was pretty obvious to me that, hey, I think it’s time to do this.”
“I think it helped clear the picture,” an emotional Boehner said of the experience.
He said he did not know what lies ahead for him, except a continuation of his yoga practice because, “It’s great for my back.”
But even as he looked forward, Boehner had terse words for the faction that he ultimately could not control. He harked back to 2013 and what he called the conservatives’ “fool’s errand” of insisting on the repeal of the health care law in exchange for passing a budget.
“Our founders didn’t want some parliamentary system where, if you won the majority, you got to do whatever you wanted. They wanted this long, slow process” he said. “And so change comes slowly, and obviously too slowly, for some.”
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