John Boehner resigning at end of October
Now the fight to elect a new Speaker begins
Speaker John Boehner will resign from his House seat at the end of October.
The Hill reports:
Speaker John Boehner told GOP lawmakers on Friday he will resign at the end of October.
The embattled Ohio Republican will resign from both his Speakership and his House seat, he told GOP lawmakers at a closed-door conference meeting.
“Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all,” a Boehner aide said.
The aide said the Speaker had only been planning to serve through the end of last year but decided to stay on after then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) suffered a stunning primary loss.“The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution,” the aide said.
“He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30.”
Watch press conference LIVE: There was supposed to be a live press conference, but it was cancelled when it was announced Boehner left through the back door:
Turns out. the press conference was held later:
….
Here are some reactions:
https://youtu.be/yTj0lC9dCOI?t=33s
Rubio to Value Voters: "Just a few mins ago, Speaker Boehner announced he will be resigning." HUGE ovation. Many standing.
— Steve Peoples (@sppeoples) September 25, 2015
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/647415925004718080
https://twitter.com/DRUDGE_REPORT/status/647415852053073920
"You want to know much you terrify Washington? Yesterday John Boehner was speaker of the House. Ya'll come to town and somehow that changes"
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) September 25, 2015
Today, conservatives cry tears- of joy! RT @edhenry: Boehner's tears yesterday make a lot more sense today
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) September 25, 2015
Wow. Intense reaction to John Boehner resigning from Congress @ Value Voter Summit #boehner https://t.co/tT01ECNHeD
— Charlotte Potts (@chapotts) September 25, 2015
AND, THE WORST TWEET OF THE DAY goes to:
Republican House of Representatives Loses It's Boehner http://t.co/vPO0BRsAhJ #boehner
— Tommy X-TrumpIsARacist-opher (@tommyxtopher) September 25, 2015
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
When Mitch McConnell goes I say we have some bourbon. Thanks John Boehner, you were not evil but you were weak. Let’s sweep these bums out and get something done.
To get something done, you need an agreement (majority) in both Houses of Congress and the agreement of the President. Without agreement by the President, you need a veto-proof majority.
When John Boehner said, “We don’t have the votes,” it meant we don’t have the votes to override a Presidential veto.
Everything else is grandstanding BS.
Keep the House. Keep the Senate. Get the Presidency. Pass the line-item veto. And quit blaming an intelligent, capable man for knowing how to count.
What about when you want something to *not* get done? Like Ronald Reagan’s budgets?
Two sides to that story. At any rate, Boehner rode the promises for all they were worth a short year ago.
To not do things is easy. A simple majority in both houses, or even just a majority in the House and 41 senators, is enough to stop the other side from passing legislation. When did Boehner or McConnell claim they didn’t have the votes to stop Democratic legislation? Never. What they don’t have is the votes to pass Republican legislation over D opposition.
Yes, that is part of the brilliance of the design of our system of government. Our founders understood that the Federal Government should do AS LITTLE AS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Gridlock is a feature, not a bug.
To pass a line item veto you need first 2/3 of both houses and then 3/4 of the state legislatures. You don’t need the presidency.
Signing in just to ‘downvote’ you Valerie. If we’re just going to lie down until we have all that we want, then what the hell is the point? Like Fred Upton not having a vote in committee on the Keystone Pipeline because Obama will just veto it…big deal, make him veto it. You have to work to wear these guys down. Otherwise we’re doomed. It’s good news that Boehner will be out of the way. But folks like yourself, well I respectfully say, you’re part of the problem.
You are looking for free entertainment. You are better off going to the movies.
Representing the voters who put you into office isn’t Grandstanding. Surrendering to the opposition in order to avoid a fight you might lose isn’t bravery.
The lawyers here will understand this. He’s like the prosecutor who has a 100% conviction rate because he drops any case he’s not sure of winning.
You know what you do then? You make the president VETO bills that are popular with the voters. You make the DEMOCRATS the reason nothing is getting done.
You don’t sit there and go, “nothing can get done”. YOU PLAY POLITICS for crying out loud. You make the other side look bad.
Sometimes you fight just because the fight is the right, principled thing to do. Consider Churchill in the dark days after Dunkirk, when every precept of statecraft said to sue for terms with Germany.
Or, as with Nanny Pelosi and Dirty Filthy Harry Reid, fighting gives you the chance to lie, cheat and steal.
I advocate for the former example, BTW, and HATE the latter one.
This I know; UNLESS you fight, you’ve already selected to surrender.
Your attitude fails to recognize the long term benefits of getting the other side on the record on controversial issues. It is harder to do today because of the internet, but there are still too many in Washington who talk one way back home and vote another way in Washington. A vetoed bill is also a great way to educate voters. That is why we need a Speaker who understands how to communicate to the public as well as playing the inside game of lining up votes. Both Hastert and Boehner were abject failures at communicating with the voters at large.
Pree-cisely. Right now there are tens of millions of people who are waking up, for the first time, to the realities of Planned Parenthood. The videos have illustrated the fact that it is actually nothing more than a body-part harvesting abortion mill.
Let The Boy King shut the government down in order to demand the continuation of taxpayer funding of baby murder. Let him do it, let’s see how the voters like the ‘optics’ of that.
He was incapable of leadership. If he couldn’t sway members of his own party what good was he? He was a weak, ineffective, and worthless waste of space. Good riddance.
You never once saw him fighting against Obama only trying to push his own people into ridiculous compromises.
No, he was evil: he sold out his country. And cheaply, too.
One thing’s for sure, Boehner was a fraud. But then so was Romney when he said he was “severely” conservative. I think both Boehner and McConnell are liberals who have been masquerading as Republicans. So what’s new? We’ve got candidates running for president who are doing the same thing.
One scalp doesn’t win a battle.
One has to start someplace.
True, but it sure strikes fear in the heart of your enemy.
Boehner, his lower lip quivering, looked teafully into the camera and said “At this stage in my life, it’s more important that I cash in and spend more quality time with a bottle of bourbon at the tanning salon.”
why wait until then, you gutless scumbag?
GTFO today!
Perhaps the GOP Establishment is finally seeing the tsunami of justified anger at the feckless, spineless, Obama-loving RINOs that have not passed a budget or substantively countered ANYTHING that Obama has rammed through the body politic. I am sure the penny-loafered, panty-waisted, beltway bully crowd is collectively soiling their delicate undergarments.
Nice thought. Don’t think so, though.
McCarthy – his right-hand man and crony – is poised to take his place……….
But – YES!!! I wonder how Ohio replaces members when they resign – what their process is.
I sure hope Gov. Kasich puts a CONSERVATIVE in there!!! (Not holding my breath, though….)
Can you really be that ignorant of the constitution? Ohio doesn’t get a choice in the matter. Boehner doesn’t represent the state, and the state has no right to replace him. The only people who can replace him are the voters of his district. Kasich’s only choice is the date of the election to replace him.
I believe the Governor of Ohio has unrestricted rights to make an appointment to the Senate. Each state has different practices because the constitution allows the states to adopt their own rules. Maybe you need a refresher course in the constitution.Some of it was written when States’ rights actually meant something.
You are right, of course, about the SENATE. Not the Congress.
Good riddance to bad rubbish. DLTDHYOYWO.
“There was supposed to be a live press conference, but it was cancelled when it was announced Boehner left through the back door:”
He’s likely heading off to K street to drink lunch and pass out resumes.
Thought of this song right away when I read that: She came in through the bathroom window Not sure why….. (Crybaby Boehner, perhaps?)
This one is the appropriate one: Nana nana! Nana nana! Hey Hey! Goodbye!
Actually I went straight to Aaron Tipton’s song: You’ve Got To Stand For Something.
He was probably rushing off to play a round of golf with his Obama.
Conservatism is growing and making incremental gains, but don’t celebrate until you see what replaces Boehner. We are still the redheaded stepchildren of the GOP.
You are correct. This is an uphill battle. They are already touting McCarthy as his replacement, so if he does replace Boehner, there will likely be more of the same. The two are buddies.
And stocks for the spray tan industry plummet!
The challenge for the hard right will be converting anger into results. If they select the new speaker, it’s put up or shut up time. After saying that Boehner should have prevailed in spite of the numbers, they will have no excuse if they don’t move the conservative agenda. They need a good parliamentarian to keep from getting rolled by procedural mistakes, and I don’t know who that is. Interesting times.
Not necessarily a great change of the guard though – RINO weakling and Boehner sycophant McCarthy sits in the driver’s seat, waiting to become the next Speaker.
My question:
What’s the process in Ohio to replace a Congressman? I wish the guy that primaried Boehner could take the seat – he was a Conservative.
Time will tell. And thankfully, the election for Congress members is 2016……
Don’t quit; don’t stop the fight. This is just one victory in a long, slogging battle, in a long, drawn-out war to fundamentally restore our nation.
What’s the process in Ohio to replace a Congressman?
The same as in every other state, of course. By election. There’s no “Ohio exception” in the constitution, giving that state the right to choose a different method.
You are wrong, wrong, wrong.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/politics_nation/2009/08/new_focus_on_senate_succession.html
Love you, brother, but we’re NOT talking about the Senate.
Ooops! Apologies Milhouse. I am wrong, wrong, wrong.
“Possible choices to succeed Boehner include Kevin McCarthy of California, the current No. 2 to Boehner, and Paul Ryan (Ryan has already said no!) of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Longshot choices may include Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who ranks fourth in the Republican leadership, and Peter Roskam of Illinois, who lost the election for Republican whip, the third-ranking position.
Outliers could be any of a number of conservatives, led by Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas. Others include Pete Sessions of Texas and Dan Webster of Florida, who challenged Boehner in January and won 12 votes.”
Newsmax
“Possible choices to succeed Boehner include Kevin McCarthy of California, the current No. 2 to Boehner…”
Oh, please no. Happily, we fled Rep. McCarthy’s district years ago, but a more useless political troll I’ve yet to meet. He had NEVER had a real job, has spent his entire life sucking at the public teat, and has managed to live his entire life without ever developing a spine. Ye gads; that would be an “out the frying pan, into the fire” situation.
I’d like to see Newt take the job. It’s time to kick azz and take names. Heh. Just thinking about him locking horns with obastard warms my heart. 🙂
Who’s next?
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/09/25/john-boehner-successors/
The Speaker does not need to be a member of the Congress.
Just food for thought…!!!
What’s Newt up to these days? 😉
Newt got run out as Speaker, too, remember? They’ll be lucky if anyone wants the job.
I give the credit to Trump.
Boehner obviously didn’t care that the Republican base hated him when he ran for speaker the last 2-3 times. He would have stayed on forever if he could.
But it is another thing entirely when the frontrunner for the nomination of your party is bashing your leadership and getting applause for it.
I bet Boehner’s bosses forced him out. (Yes, I know Boehner shouldn’t have bosses other than the American people, but people of Boehner’s character do have bosses).
I credit Congressman Mark Meadows, who is soft spoken and modest, a consensus candidate for the title of the nicest guy in Congress. The closest I have ever heard him come to bragging was when he told supporters how his college age son ha bested a left wing student in a debate about religious rights. Yet he was instrumental in causing the Speaker to resign.
Trump supporters need to ponder this. There is a world of difference between boasting about being a winner when talking tough on TV or in front of large, adulating crowds and actually accomplishing something based upon principles.
I already e-mailed Meadows (my Congressman) and thanked him for certainly being instrumental in swaying the Speaker’s decision. Let’s hope we get a replacement who will stand up to Obama and not cave in at the earliest sign of resistance.
I met Meadows in connection with his land development company and can confirm everything NC Mountain Girl said. He’s a humble guy, ‘old school’ in a good way, and though I’m at the other end of NC from Meadows’ district I’m very proud of this fellow North Carolinian. I’d love to see him run for NC governor or US Senate. He’s a natural Tea Party guy.
I don’t know that it is Trump per se, so much as it is Trump’s numbers. Maybe, perhaps, FINALLY the GOP leadership is looking around and realizing, “Holy cow. The Republican base really hates us.”
Obama looked happier golfing with Boehner than he did with Bill Clinton. A photo’s worth a thousand words. I’m sure Boehner will do as much harm as he can before he, finally, leaves.
Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers.”
Although the Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a Member of the House, all Speakers have been Members.
When a Congress convenes for the first time, each major party conference or caucus nominates a candidate for Speaker. Members customarily elect the Speaker by roll call vote. A Member usually votes for the candidate from his or her own party conference or caucus but can vote for anyone, whether that person has been nominated or not.
To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast—which may be less than a majority of the full House because of vacancies, absentee Members, or Members who vote “present.” If no candidate receives the majority of votes, the roll call is repeated until a majority is reached and the Speaker is elected.
clerk.house.gov
Let the maneuvering begin. The phone lines of the Republican caucus members will be jammed this weekend.
Let me note that I have been saying on this and other forums since last January that Boehner’s days were numbered.
The challenge last January was not about defeating Boehner outright. Mounted very late, it was about denying him a majority on the first ballot and it came close. One reason it failed was that Boehner had already lined up first ballot commitments from many conservative members. The weasel worded statements of support from these members was telling. Now they get to start afresh. An added benefit is that long standing members have had another nine months to get to know the members of the classes of ’10, ’12 and ’14.
It will still take 60 votes in the Senate to do anything of note and 2/3 votes in each house to overturn a Presidential veto.
Then MAKE HIM VETO. Make him veto popular legislation. Make him look like the obstruction. Make the DEMS out to be the problem (as they actually are).
Whichever side looks like it is trying to risk too much for too little loses.
When it comes to stopping funding for Planned Parenthood (power of the purse) it is not even a veto. If Congress does nothinbg, it stops. Everythinbg else stops too.
The only way to win this in the court of public opinion (even if a majority of the public thinks that, on balance, Planned Parenthood should not get any money) is to pass bills – many bills – that fund everything else. thCarve away everything, slowly, until you reach a point where the public blames both parties equally for what remains unfunded.
And of course, they shouldn’t be seen to want to change important precedent of funding PP on a whim, or to attempt to be forcing Democrats, or anybody, to stop funding it, by holding other spending hostage.
Whicheverr parrty is seen as being more unreasonable loses.
Oh, dear. Common sense? How dare you?
I’m going on record right now as stating outright that whoever Heritage Action and Freedomworks picks as the next Speaker will be branded a RINO sell out by them by the middle of next year. Let’s go with within two months of their election. That should do it.
Very good news to hear. Now, for this Floridian can JEB! step away from running for the presidency?
Swan song from hell?
“The early reports are discouraging,” Mr. Cruz said. “If it is correct that the speaker, before he resigns, has cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to fund the Obama administration for the rest of this year, to fund Obamacare, to fund executive amnesty, to fund Planned Parenthood, to fund implementation of this Iran deal and then presumably to land a cushy K Street job after joining with the Democrats to implement all of President Obama’s priorities, that is not the behavior one would expect from a Republican speaker of the House.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/john-boehner-to-resign-from-congress.html
It’ll be interesting to see how much of that…if any…is true.
If all of it, or most of it, is true, the man cannot run from tar and feathers. He has to play golf some time…
Keep a hopeful eye out for featherless ducks haunting the ponds of America’s golf courses.
It is. And from the corrupt, extorted backstabber from hell.
Cruz knows that that’s the deal Boehner made in order to get him to resign. He’s getting on my last nerve.
I think the scrambling from the Republican leadership is going to make deals hard to achieve. Not only the guy that replaces Boehner, but also the guy that replaces the guy etc. There are a lot of people who are going to move up the ladder or get left behind and they all want to look good.
#DraftNewt Speaker 2015
You know it makes sense! 😀
I respectfully disagree with one point of the IJR article, Boehner had one group that would support him, the Democrats. Between him and a conservative, they will support him.
I was going to send him a bottle of bourbon and a note saying “Thank you from the American people”, but I got a better idea. Let’s all start a Go Fund Ne account to send him to professional detox, sober Little Johnny may figure out how screwed up he is
At the same time I’m listening to the Patrick Kane rape case press conference, which I got to late. So I’m kinda stuck, but I want to run around the house chanting Ding Dong the witch is dead. BTW this day is ripe since aside from Boehner and Kane, Trump is having some kind of meeting with Ailles so we may have even more news.
It also reminds me of the day Carly Fiorina’s firing/resignation/whatever was announced. Techies around the country, not just engineers at HP went around chanting the same thing. After all HP made some of our best toys.
It makes me wonder if should Boehner run for president in 12 years, he will make arguments that he was not a bad speaker, buit rather that it was a bad time for speakers and he did the best he could.
Is Boehner taking the Chamber of Commerce with him?
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
Watching Boehner’s press conference, it is infuriating to endure his statements that his number one priority is to preserve the integrity of the institution. Nonsense! His district didn’t elect him for that purpose, and the nation doesn’t expect that from him. Was Harry Reid concerned about the integrity of the Senate (rhetorical question–no answer required).
The GOP has to learn to fight like the democrats and not fold like a lawn chair on the important stuff.
“John Boehner resigning at end of October”
Kimberly-Clark (Kleenex) stock tumbles after intense sell-off.
Wow, this is great news! It’s almost as if someone started vigorously bucking the GOP Establishment, taking them on, showing it could actually be done, discouraging the RINOs, showing them the writing on the wall, and inspiring others to Make America Great Again!!
Conservatives have been talking about getting rid of Boehner for years. Wonder what changed?
Eww, eww… I KNOW…!!!
It was NOT Ted Cruz, who you LIE about supporting. NO, not him or any of the other MANY people who’ve been pressing against the “leadership” in Congress.
It was your little yellow god, Mr. Establishment! He is the source of all good things!
All kneel to the little yellow god, Duh Donald!
Oh dear, Mr. ‘I love the Dream Act’ cutting his Anger Management Classes again. lol
I’ve got your “Dream Act” hangin’ right here, any time, honey.
You just tell me. I’m ready for that bullshit.
not hangin’ by a thread, it IS a thread
No, it wasn’t cruz, the party has marginalized him all along.
It was the big money men, Boehner’s bosses, that are frightened they are losing control. They think (hope) this will slow down the rise of the anti establishment Trump. It will not work.
Having just watched his mentor get forced out, McCarthy might be more amenable to conservative house member demands than was Boehner. Or not. The question is whether McCarthy knows (or cares) that if he simply picks up and runs the House like Boehner did, he’ll get the same as Boehner did.
—-
As for Boehner, one of the most jaw-dropping, I can’t believe he just said that, quotes came when Beohner was whining about conservative opposition from the House conservative caucus and among GOP voters and described himself as being ‘a Tea Party guy before there even was a Tea Party’. He may as well have megaphoned from atop the Capitol Building, “I’m grossly out of touch with my own party!”
—
Is Ohio earning a reputation for producing milquetoast, touchy feely RINOs?
Ohio has produced 8 Presidents, 7 Republicans and 1 Whig. I wouldn’t call Ulyesses S. Grant touchy feely.
I was thinking more recently. Grant was not touchy feely. Few of us drunks are.
I find it oddly appropriate for a Speaker who did not have the nerve to press the Dems on matters of policy, to also not have the nerve to show up at his own resignation press conference.
Eric Ericson has an interesting column on what caused the departure.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/09/25/boehner-resigns-one-thing-must-understand-about-speakers-decision.html?intcmp=hpbt1
“But over the August recess, members of congress went home and were increasingly alarmed by voter anger. Likewise, presidential candidates began calling Boehner out on the campaign trail to great applause.
It was a sign that there was a problem. ”
DUH!!
But, of course, you cannot listen (read) ANYTHING from the RINO squish establishment thug, Ericson (who also spells his name wrong, according to certain prigs), because…taste…
Always with the negative waves Moriarty, always with the negative waves.
“Woff, woff…woff, woff, woff!”
“So make a deal. Maybe he’s a Republican.”
“It’s crying time again and you’re gonna leave us”. That old song has a lot more meaning for me than it used to.
“it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to….you’d cry too if it happened to you!” – rumored to be heard from John Boehner as he was resigning.
Or that old Skid Row classic… “Get The F*ck Out!”
Heh. People think they will get a more conservative Speaker. That’s pretty funny.
John and Mitch should be listed in Webster’s and the Oxford dictionaries as the definition of COWARDS. They both keep whining on and on about not having a government shutdown. Let’s all take a moment to remember the last shutdown. Does anybody recall the paralysis we all went thru. I thought not! Since the powers that be have declared something like 80 + percent of government workers “Essential” the process grinds on. Unless of course there is a snowstorm and then the ratio is reversed. The smoky bear Park Rangers and tour guides were out of work for a few days but still managed to harass WW II vets in town for a tour of the their open air memorial. Guess what? They were all paid for the government shutdown!
JB and MM treat government shutdown as an apocalyptic event when in fact it should be treated as a national holiday. But the blame should go right to the oval office where it belongs. The supporting pair of clowns JB & MM)should at least have the testicular fortitude to let the CIC (Clown in Chief) be forced to veto bills that have passed thru Congress for the American public to see what an inept fool, and how out of touch (like the GOP) the CIC is.
What? No one is blaming Trump for this?
Why ever not? LOL!
The reality – it is Trumps fault. The big money class is scared to death Trump will be elected, so they have thrown the orange clown under the bus in the hope it will tamp down some of the “outsider” enthusiasm.
It won’t work of course.
This is the first real win for conservatives all year. But don’t worry. The republicans could still throw it away by electing someone like McCarthy to take his place.
Well, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory IS the GOPe leadership’s special talent.
It is the ominous likelihood that McCarthy or any other new speaker will also get booted if he/she continues ‘The Boehner Way’ that might pry open some GOPe eyes. That bunch is all about appeasement instead of fighting and congressional conservatives might take benefit of that – and maybe they just did.
The GOPe won’t take risks, every political fight has risks, ergo, they won’t fight. This is their idea of being undefeated and suffering no losses – by never fighting.
“You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
One can hope, Mr. Hawkins. One can hope.
Watching Newt Gingrich talking about Boehner on FOX. Educational, as usual.
Newt Gingrich could take Boehner ‘to school’ better than anybody else can, but what Boehner really needs is to be horsewhipped in the town square and run out of town on a rail.
The only thing missing from Boehner’s bye-bye speech was a few nice, loud, well-placed hiccups.
“You dumb bastards *hic* don’t appreciate me so I’m *hic* resign…resigning *hic* end of the month next *hic* month. Next month. Goddamned *hic* conservative bastards just don’t *hic* get it. *hic*”