Kevin McCarthy and the Contest for House Speaker

But McCarthy vowed to avoid another shutdown threat later this year when the temporary funding ends and the debt ceiling needs to be raised.

A few conservative Republicans have been calling for new leadership because they believe Boehner has too often relied on Democrats to pass critical legislation and was not taking a hard enough stance against funding for women’s healthcare provider Planned Parenthood amid an abortion controversy.

Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas said no one raised objections to the plan in the morning conference meeting.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s position and actions have raised controversy between conservatives. This marks the first time that a house speaker has willingly left the job since Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. resigned in 1986.

The Republican leaders’ agreement to ignore the conservative Republicans’ demands and vote on the spending bill this week will be only a temporary victory. The only other candidate for the position is Florida Republican Dan Webster who mustered only 12 votes running against Boehner in January. “And I woke up, said my prayers as I always do, and I decided today is the day I’m going to do this”.

September 28, 2015: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif. speaks about foreign policy during the John Hay Initiative at a hotel in Washington.

The California congressman, who is Mr Boehner’s deputy, has sent a letter to Republican lawmakers seeking their support as he vies for the chamber’s top job, which is second in line to the U.S. president.

“I’ll tell Kevin, if he’s the next speaker, that his No. 1 responsibility is to protect the institution”. They’ve met resistance from tea party Republicans and outside groups that advocated for the 2013 partial government shutdown over implementation of Obama’s health care law. Representative Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma is also considering a bid.

Speaker Boehner answers questions from reporters on Capitol Hill during a press conference.

Amid the dissatisfaction, McCarthy has been working to distance himself from Boehner and ingratiate himself with hardliners in the House.

Messer, who now ranks fifth in House leadership, says House Republicans need to find common ground.

Boehner announced Friday that he would give up his speaker’s post as well as his House seat at the end of October.

Boehner took over the speakership in January 2011.

“I want us to be much closer to the people we represent, and I want them to once again feel like this is their government, they are in charge, and we are here to serve them”, he wrote.

McCarthy “is not a principled conservative”.

The role of Speaker of the House is vital and the person who fills it has got to have conciliatory negotiation skills.