Mr. Boehner, who was first elected to Congress in 1990, made the announcement in an emothional 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...
...On Friday, even as Republican members of Congress reeled from the news, the architects of the right-leaning movement cheered.
'Americans deserve a Congress that fights for opportunity for all and favoritism to none,' said Michael A. Needham the chief executive of Heritage Action, a policy arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation.
'Too often, Speaker Boehner has stood in the way. Today's announcement is a sign that the voice of the American people is breaking through in Washington. Now is the time for a principled, conservative leader to emerge...'"
eye'm thynkin': Regarding Mr. Boehner -- When the going gets tough, the tough get going. The weak quit.
Regarding Mr. Needham -- Spoken like a true Koch flunky.
Read more at The New York Times
I don't see this as a "weak" thing. I think that Speaker Boehner had seen that last nail driven into the coffin of the old GOP. The GOP that wanted to govern with reason and for the better good. They used to do that ya know.
ReplyDeleteI think that is why he invited Pope Francis to speak before the 'House'. Maybe hoping the Pontiff's wisdom would sink in.
I'm thinking that he was sick and tired of dealing with hate filled, uneducated tea party, buffoons
I didn't know of the man until he took the Speakers seat. Since that day I watched him say and do things that made me wonder if he was working for a better America, or for a paycheck from the Kochs.
Weak? I don't think so. Disgusted with a party he once loved? Most likely
He has been a weak leader from day one, unable to keep his caucus together. He never had the ability to project his ideas or principles into a winning argument. Not bringing bills to a vote that had majority support if part of that support included Democrats resulted in a record of least productive Congress in history under his speakership. The first time he caved to the far right, his legitimacy as a "leader" was over.
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