John Boehner, Speaker of the House, announced his decision to resign from his position effective at the end of October. In response, the Republican Party has scrambled to rally behind a replacement that can both unify and heal party divides.
Boehner’s announcement came late September, right after the visit of Pope Francis.“My decision came after a night of sleep and prayers,” Boehner said.
Boehner said his tenure would “do irreparable harm to the institution” and that “This isn’t about me. It’s about the people, it’s about the institution.”
Eyes have turned to many potential candidates for his replacement. One candidate, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, has declined comment on if he plans to run. Raul Labrador declined as well, who had an attempted run at Majority Leader earlier in the year. Two hundred and eighteen votes are needed to become speaker.
Boehner has been approached by the Freedom Caucus to stay up to months past his initial resignation date, should the party not rally behind one candidate. This candidate is 2012 vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
Ryan spent most of last week in Janesville, Wisconsin away from the speculation. Brendan Buck, spokesman for Ryan, said that Ryan would only run if he is supported by three groups within the House Republican conference: the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee and the Tuesday Group.
Ryan’s conditions go on. Ryan wants to change the rules regarding how the sitting speaker can be removed from office. Additionally, Ryan, who is a father to three, said he wants a better work-life balance than Boehner.
Ryan expressed his desire for unity behind the new speaker, noting that he is willing to take “arrows in the chest but not in the back.” If his demands are met, Ryan is “happy and willing to get to work.”
Ryan has received mixed response among the divided party. “I hope he does decide to run, and if he does, I think he’ll be elected,” Boehner said. However, the GOP has yet to endorse him. Part of the hesitancy has to do with Ryan’s history on open-borders and amnesty policies. With the national spotlight on immigration, some House Republicans are questioning Ryan’s ability to unite the Party and be “condusive to legislative successes,” as John McCain R-AZ puts it. “[A leaderless House of Representatives]…diminishes [the GOP] even more in the esteem of the American people.”
A functional legislature is a driving concern among the Party. In 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown due to a budget for the fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim authorization of appropriations for the fiscal year 2014 was enacted in time. The government was in shutdown for a period of 16 days, bringing national attention to the ineffectiveness of the legislature.
To avoid another default, procuring an effective speaker is paramount to Ryan and the House as a whole. “We need to move from an opposition party to a proposition party,” Ryan said. “If I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve.”
The election of the next speaker is expected to be two days before Boehner’s resignation. If the Freedom Caucus does not rally behind Ryan, Boehner may be asked to serve “up until the next term” to preserve his important role in legislating key deals and bills that the GOP holds closely held.
Barton Kleen
Managing Editor