Politics doesn’t usually involve sacrifice, but House Speaker John Boehner apparently felt it was the best of a series of bad options facing him.
In the hours after Pope Francis addressed a joint meeting of Congress yesterday, Speaker Boehner told his leadership team he had a plan to defund Planned Parenthood by including money for the bill in a reconciliation bill, rather than shutting down the entire federal government. Many conservatives who felt passionately about the issue revolted and there appeared to be about 30 to 40 Republicans who were insisting they wouldn’t go along with a stopgap funding bill that didn’t defund Planned Parenthood. As CNN reported last night:
“Boehner summoned to his office some of the conservatives who are threatening him. Mulvaney, Representative Matt Salmon (R., Ariz.), Representative Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), Representative Reid Ribble, (R., Wisc.), and Representative Raul Labrador (R., Idaho) arrived at the speaker’s office Thursday afternoon. On his way in, Mulvaney said he felt like he was being called ‘to the principal’s office.’” But none of the rebels would budge, once again threateing Boehner’s hold over the House.
The pressure on Boehner was building from both sides. Senator Ted Cruz accused Boehner of “surrender.” But a letter to all House Republicans from eleven freshmen in marginal districts said their party should avoid an “unnecessary and harmful government shutdown” and support a short-term funding bill.
So Boehner decided to pop the boil by resigning. “Nothing is likely to better to force members to pause and re-evaulate where the House is going and force people to come together than a dramatic shakeup,” one House Republican told me. “The venom may have been taken out of this debate and could lead to a strategy that gets us out of the government shutdown debate.” House majority leader Kevin McCarthy is the most likely to succeed Boehner since any opponents would have little time to prepare a campaign. The race to replace McCarthy should he move up to Speaker would be a more wide-open affair and could include House Whip Steve Scalise, House Republican chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Commerce Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling.
Speaker Boehner was frequently seen tearing up during Pope Francis’ speech yesterday, and he told friends afterwards how pleased his long effort to bring a Pope to speak to Congress had come to fruition. By leaving his leadership post, he may have created conditions for his GOP colleagues to rethink ways they can cooperate. New leadership may not help, but it probably will create enough short-term unity to enable Republicans to surmount the current crisis.