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Speaker of the House Boehner to step down
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US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who struggled with repeated rebellions by conservatives during a five-year reign as the chamber’s top Republican, will step down from the speakership and leave the post at the end of October.
The 65-year-old Ohio lawmaker stunned Republican House members at a meeting yesterday morning with the announcement he was giving up the top job in the 435-seat chamber.
US Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the No. 2 House Republican, quickly became the leading contender to replace him.
Boehner’s decision eased the threat of a government shutdown next week, with many Republicans saying they would forge ahead with a “clean” spending bill that does not withhold funding from the women’s health group Planned Parenthood, as threatened by conservatives who objected to the group’s abortion services.
Only the day before, Boehner, a Catholic, hosted Pope Francis for an address to Congress and broke down in tears as he stood with the pope to greet crowds on the Capitol’s West front.
Boehner has faced constant pressure from conservatives who believed he was too willing to compromise with President Barack Obama and too likely to rely on Democratic votes to pass crucial legislation.
The approaching confrontation over government spending had raised the prospect of another possible challenge to his speakership by conservatives, something Boehner has beaten back several times before.
“I saw him recently and he looked weary. Understandably, he was tired,” US Senator John McCain, also a Republican, told reporters. “Sometimes we fail to appreciate that these are human beings with human emotions and lives to lead.”
Boehner’s plan had been to serve as speaker only to the end of last year, an aide said, but he changed his mind when his No. 2 at the time, Eric Cantor, lost his seat in a Republican primary.
The aide said Boehner wanted to avoid a leadership fight and believed another bout of prolonged turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi described his resignation as “seismic.”
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