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Boehner to resign as House Speaker

 

 

By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

 

WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Republican U.S. House Speaker John Boehner announced Friday he will resign as Speaker and leave his top job in the 435-seat chamber at the end of October.

The 64-year-old Ohio lawmaker from West Chester stunned Washington with the abrupt announcement. His departure comes after struggling with repeated rebellion by conservatives during a tumultuous five-year reign as the House’s top Republican.

Boehner said he made the final decision to announce his resignation on Friday morning and told his staff shortly before a closed-door meeting of Republicans. "I told them: ‘This is the day. It’s going to happen someday. Why not today?’" he was quoted as saying by various national news outlets.

He has said the decision "isn’t about me" but is meant to help preserve the institution of Congress as he faces the strongest challenge to his gavel to date.

"It had become clear to me that the prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution," he said. "I don’t want to put my colleagues through this. For what? I’m not simply going to sit idle and do nothing until the end of October. There is plenty of work that still needs to be done."

Boehner’s tenure as Speaker has been marked by clashes with conservatives, especially on fiscal policy. He’s struggled to push through legislation to increase the debt ceiling and was facing another showdown this week to keep the government open. The Speaker has often relied on Democratic votes during these moments, a strategy that has infuriated some conservatives.

Boehner insisted he was not forced out of the job, saying he had always planned to resign his seat at the end of the year. "If I wasn’t planning on leaving here soon, I wouldn’t have done this," he said.

In 2014 Boehner was elected to his 13th term in Congress, representing Ohio’s 8th Congressional District. That includes all of Butler, Clark, Darke, Miami and Preble counties, and the southernmost part of Mercer County.

"Being speaker of the House is like herding cats," he said. "You’re always trying to get these different people within your own party, all these different factions together and it’s like herding cats. It’s very difficult to do."

The 8th is one of the largest agricultural districts in the Buckeye State. It boasts more than 6,000 farms, growing grain and producing livestock on more than 1 million acres. Each March Boehner hosts the Farm Forum to bring together experts from different sectors of the agriculture community for a discussion on issues impacting this important industry.

According to U.S. House Press Secretary Olivia Hnat, the fate of that forum is now uncertain.

Though his residence was split between Washington, D.C., and West Chester, his efforts were often felt by farmers within his district and those elsewhere. "We are grateful for Speaker Boehner’s leadership in so many areas, including service on the House Agriculture Committee, and for his work for a more transparent and productive Congress," said Chip Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Assoc.

"I thank John Boehner for his service to our nation and wish him and his family the best moving forwards," Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) said after the announcement. "The reason that he gave us this morning for leaving demonstrates, perhaps most eloquently, his humble, servant leadership, character and the respect he has for the institution and country."

Boehner, who will be 65 next month, made the announcement one day after Pope Francis addressed a Joint Session of Congress at the Speaker’s invitation. "Before I went to sleep the night before I told my wife, ‘You know, I might just make an announcement tomorrow," he said. "When I woke up, I said my prayers as I always do and thought, ‘This is the day I’m going to do this.’"

No Speaker since Thomas P. "Tip" O’Neill Jr., who held the gavel from 1977-86, has left the job willingly.

Boehner, who has been pressured throughout his tenure to push for deeper spending cuts and more aggressive policy changes than seen by some in the GOP as possible with a Democrat in the White House, seemed in press reports both exhausted by the fight and at peace with his move to leave rather than face a potentially humiliating fight within his party.

"My first job as speaker is to protect the institution," he said. "It had become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution. My mission every day is to fight for a smaller, less costly, and more accountable government. Over the last five years, our majority has advanced conservative reforms that will help our children and their children. I am proud of what we have accomplished. I never thought I’d be in Congress, let alone be Speaker."

Boehner, a barkeeper’s son raised in Reading, graduated from Moeller High School (a Catholic boys’ school) in Cincinnati in 1968, where he played football for legendary coach Gerry Faust. He graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati in 1977, married that same year and he and his wife, Debbie, have two daughters, Lindsay and Tricia.

He served as trustee for Union Township from 1982-84. In 1984 he was elected as a representative to the Ohio legislature and served three terms, and in 1990 he was elected to the U.S. House. In 1994 he became a key ally of GOP Rep. Newt Gingrich and the following year, he was named GOP Conference chair.

In 2011 he was elected the 53rd Speaker, and in 2014 he was reelected to the 8th Congressional District for a 13th term.

President Barack Obama said Boehner’s resignation took him by surprise. He praised Boehner, calling him a "good man" and a "patriot."

(Note: Boehner’s quotes throughout this article are taken from national news reports. Attempts to reach him for original remarks were unsuccessful by press time.)

9/30/2015