WASHINGTON— With Congress in turmoil, House Speaker John Boehner suddenly informed fellow Republicans on Friday that he would resign at the end of October, stepping aside in the face of hardline conservative opposition that threatens an institutional crisis.
The 13-term Ohio Republican shocked his GOP caucus Friday morning when he announced his decision in a closed-door session. It came one day after a high point of Boehner’s congressional career, a historic speech by Pope Francis to Congress at Boehner’s request.
A constant focus of conservatives’ complaints, Boehner was facing the threat of a floor vote on whether he could stay on as speaker, a formal challenge that hasn’t happened in over 100 years. That was being pushed by tea partyers convinced Boehner wasn’t fighting hard enough to strip Planned Parenthood of government funds, even though doing so risked a government shutdown next week.
“The first job of any speaker is to protect this institution that we all love,” Boehner said in a statement not long after announcing his resignation to his colleagues. “It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. To that end, I will resign the speakership and my seat in Congress on Oct. 30.”
“Over the last five years, our majority has advanced conservative reforms that will help our children and their children,” Boehner said. “I am proud of what we have accomplished.”
Some conservatives welcomed the announcement.
Surprised Democrats saw disorder in the House GOP, with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calling Boehner’s resignation “seismic.”
“The disarray among the House Republicans and their obsession with shutting down government over women’s health needs to be reckoned with and recognized,” said Pelosi, who learned of Boehner’s decision when Democrats’ phones started buzzing in the party’s own closed-door caucus.
Even as they praised Boehner for a selfless move, some of his allies questioned whether it would make a difference.
“I think it’s an incredibly selfless act. I wish he were staying,” said Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla. “I don’t know that it will help us. Because he’s not the problem in our conference.”
The turmoil in Congress is playing out against an already roiling race for the GOP presidential nomination in which the candidates at the top of opinion polls are all Washington outsiders. Many of the GOP candidates have criticized Boehner and his Senate counterpart, Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who’ve seen their approval ratings sag even among Republicans.
In remarks on the Senate floor, McConnell praised Boehner as an ally and friend who transformed “a broken and dispirited Republican minority into the largest Republican majority” since 1931.
Religious conservatives, in Washington for the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit, erupted in extended applause when Florida Sen. Marco Rubio informed them that Boehner was resigning.
“I’m not here to bash anyone,” Rubio said told the buzzing crowd, “but the time has come to turn the page.”
Boehner was first elected to the House in 1990 and soon established a strongly conservative record. He was part of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s leadership team when
Republicans took over the House in 1995 for the first time in four decades but was ousted from his leadership role in the wake of the GOP’s disappointing performance in the 1998 midterms.
He won a 2006 race to succeed Tom DeLay as the House’s No. 2 Republican when DeLay stepped aside as majority leader. He took over as the top Republican in the House in 2007 after Democrats retook the chamber.