Speaker John Boehner Resigns

         This morning, after weeks of speculation and rumors, Speaker John Boehner announced that he would be resigning from Congress on October 30th. Everyone’s favorite crying Congressman said, “The first job of any speaker is to protect this institution that we all love. […] I was my plan to only serve as speaker until the end of last year, but I stayed on to provide continuity to the Republican conference and the House. It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution.” 

         Speaker Boehner has had his share of hardship trying to reconcile with the Republican Party’s Tea Party extremists, most recently over their attempts to shut down the government over the funding of Planned Parenthood.  Since the Republicans are still the majority, it will be up to them to choose a new speaker. Currently, the top contender appears to be Representative Kevin McCarthy of California.

         House Representatives have been reacting to Boehner’s announcement in various ways. Moderate Republican, and our own Congressman here in Allentown, Representative Charlie Dent commented, saying, “It’s clear to me that the rejectionist members of our conference clearly had an influence on this decision. That’s why I’m not happy about what happened today.” More conservative members of the GOP, including 2016 Presidential candidate and Tea Party Leader Senator Ted Cruz, and 2016 Presidential candidate Marco Rubio, were not as kind in their remarks, Senator Rubio claiming that, “The time has come to turn the page and allow a new generation of leadership in this country.” 

        But what does Speaker Boehner’s resignation mean for the future of the Republican Party? A party this divided can only keep it together for so long, and choosing a new Speaker with even stronger conservative views could be detrimental to the party’s longevity in the House, especially with such massive elections around the corner. If a new Speaker steps in and allows the government to shutdown over the funding of Planned Parenthood as Senator Cruz wants, they will be off to an even shakier start than Speaker Boehner was, and probably will not hold the American people’s favor for long.

       It seems to me that the best thing the Republican Party could do would be to choose a moderate mediator, someone who could force the two parties dividing Congress to work together and try to increase the American people’s ever-sinking approval of Congress. But with strong Tea Party leadership, and a very partisan body, it appears that this probably will not happen, and that the new Speaker of the House will be an even stronger conservative than Speaker Boehner. If this is the case, the House will be more divided than ever, and will struggle even harder to get work done. And how would that reflect the Republican Party come elections next fall? If members of the GOP aren’t careful, the new Speaker of the House could destroy them.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/john-boehner-to-resign-from-congress.html?_r=0

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-john-boehner-resign-20150925-story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000003938119/boehner-announces-his-resignation.html?ribbon-ad-idx=3&rref=homepage&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Home%20Page&pgtype=article

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000003937974/reaction-to-boehners-resignation.html?playlistId=100000002829479