As my fellow classmates have pointed out, Speaker of the House John Boehner has recently announced his decision to resign from his position. This is related to the issue of republican views on voting on planned parenthood and the fear of an upcoming government shut down. To be specific, the government funding is set to run out soon, leading the country towards another government shut down. This meant that Congress would be forced to either shut down or find some way to continue business on the Hill some other way through passing a bill or something like that. Another issue with this situation was that with the republican majority in both the House and the Senate, this meant that the republican party has significant power in the direction that congress will go next. For the republicans, an important issue was planned parenthood and fighting for it to be defunded. This is where Boehner and his party differed and a major part of what led to his resignation.
Now that Boehner has resigned and the government funding is running low, congress has to make a decision as to what they will do next and how they will manage to stay afloat once their money is gone or if they will proceed with another shut down. With Boehner gone it is suspected that congress will be able to reach an agreement or decision that will deal with the current funding issues, and it is even expected to happen within the month. One of Boehner’s most viable replacements is Kevin McCarthy from California, but will he make for a better fit towards what the current republican majority holders in congress desire for the present or future of the government? These issues are primarily caused by the republican party’s inability to cease their current in party fighting that keeps their party divided. This could prove to be very problematic for the republican party moving forward on different voting issues as well as very problematic for the party with the upcoming presidential election.
Boehner made the decision that he thought would be best for his party and his fellow republicans as they got ready to vote on the controversial issue of planned parenthood, but will his decision save the republican party? Will the republican party be able to get their issues in line in enough time to save the position and power of their party or will they stay divided in such discourse and for so long that it brings fortune only to the democrat party?
2 comments:
I'm curious to see whether Boehner's plan to resign at this time will help or hurt the Republican party. Is his resignation going to do more harm than good? Do you think that the Republicans will be able to get their act together and stop fighting in order to prevent a government shutdown at a time like this or do you think that they will continue to stay headstrong?
I think Boehner's resignation could potentially hurt the Republican party in the long run. It is likely that Boehner will be replaced by a Representative that is much farther right than Boehner, and most likely less willing to compromise with the other side of the aisle. While this stubbornness will lead might appear to strengthen the party in the short run as it will seem to be firm and maybe even united in their policy stances (as they will not have intraparty criticism directed towards its leaders), in the long run the inability to work constructively with democrats will result in an inactive Congress, for which the Republicans will take the fault as they have the current majority in both chambers. The public disapproval of Congress will probably reflect in the next election cycle, and open the door for Democratic insurgents to seal Republican seats, and with it the margin of control.
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