Keller @ Large: Republicans Face Tough Battle After John Boehner’s Exit

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee, says he’s frustrated by Friday’s surprise resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, who faced constant criticism from some conservatives for not taking a harder line in dealing with Democrats.

Boehner abruptly announced his resignation yesterday, stunning Washington after a series of bitter battles with the many hardline members of his party determined to drive the Ohio Republican out of power.

“I think what he’s seen in today’s 24-hour news cycle, there were folks – many in our own party – who were trying to make Washington and a lack of progress more about him personally”, Davis said.

Conservatives have demanded that any legislation to keep the government operating past next Wednesday’s deadline strip Planned Parenthood of government funds, an argument rejected by the more pragmatic lawmakers. Boehner rose in the House Republican caucus because of his ability to get along with all factions, though as more conservative-minded lawmakers attained leadership positions, he was edged out of a top post. “I wish him all the best”.

Earlier this year, Noem joined other House Republicans to re-elect Boehner as speaker, his third term that will come to an early end just weeks from now. The separate measure was not expected to pass in the House or Senate and, if it did, it would have faced a presidential veto.

“The House Republican Caucus has become so rigid that the speaker finally said ‘I give up.’ And by Halloween, we’ll have a new republican leader”.

Rep. Chris Gibson, who was the only New York member to vote against Boehner in January, called Boehner “a good and honorable man”, thanking him for “his long and faithful service to our Nation”. “Now it is up to members of Congress to decide what to do with the gift that has been handed to them”.

Some tea partyers were pushing for a vote to oust Boehner as speaker, a formal challenge that hasn’t happened in more than 100 years.

“Whoever that person is, they will have the same job to bring people together”, he said. But Republicans in the U.S. House might be about to face the music.

Chuck Fleischmann, the congressman whose district includes Oak Ridge and Chattanooga, credited Boehner with helping build “the largest Republican majority in the House since 1928…”

By Boehner’s not being aggressive on funding, Congress was becoming weaker and weaker to the point that “Congress is nearly irrelevant”, Mulvaney said.

Conservative activists, gathered across town for the annual Values Voters Summit, hosted by the Family Research Council, celebrated Boehner’s fall from grace.

Boehner denied any intention to step down two years ago, the report noted, but perhaps because he didn’t want to muddy waters before clearing the way for Cantor to become speaker.

Boehner was first elected to the House in 1990 and was part of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s leadership team when Republicans took over the House in 1995. “So this morning, I informed my colleagues that I would resign from the speakership and resign from Congress at the end of October”.