No longer his circus, no longer his monkeys

[Dannyalcatraz]

John Boehner just announced that he is stepping away from Congress in just over a month, citing the papal visit as one catalyst for making the decision, along with fatigue from dealing with his party's rightmost elements.

His decision makes the coming few months even more interesting.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/politics/john-boehner-resigning-as-speaker/index.html

 

[tuxgeo]

According to the article, he wanted to leave on a high note, and the Papal visit and speech to Congress was an excellent opportunity.

Two questions arise:
(1) how does Ohio fill vacancies in its congressional delegation? (Does Gov. Kasich (R) appoint a temporary replacement, or will there be a special election, or what?)
(2) how quickly will the House of Representatives hold a vote to replace Boehner as Speaker? (I'm guessing first and essential order of business once Boehner is gone. That leaves the members a short five-week span for maneuvering and persuading.)

 

[Umbran]

Subtext:

Boehner was facing a likely challenge to his role as Speaker from within his party. He could withstand that challenge, if he'd had Democratic support. However, Boehner had shown that he only "cooperated" with the Dems when he needed something, not at any other time, so the Dems had made it known they likely weren't supporting him. And, if they did save him with their support, he'd be beholden to them, which wouldnt' be a good position.

So his, "leave on a high note" may be "leave while he's still speaker, and not disgraced by being punted".

 

[Kramodlog]

A new more conservative Speaker? Longer government shotdowns with him* as Speaker?


*Right, like Republicans will elect a woman.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

The republican party is in for some fun times.

 

[Falkus]

On the plus side, it means the government likely won't be shutting down in the next month; since now that he's resigning, he's pretty much immune to pressure from the far right. Gonna be interesting times after he's gone, though.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Boehner is going out swinging.

 

[Umbran]

Boehner is going out swinging.

Some remarks of his I heard made me think he'd do as much. Good for him. Especially in taking the stunning responsible act of working to avoid a government shutdown.

 

[calronmoonflower]

It's been a while, Goldo.

A new more conservative Speaker? Longer government shotdowns with him* as Speaker?

Hey you spell like I do.

It really takes two sides for those shutdowns. So if either side can just run over the other it wouldn't happen. And maybe we can get rid of that not introduce a bill that could pass because politics clown act can be thrown out with both chamber leaders soon to be replaced.

 

[Staffan]

A big part of the problem is the so-called "Hastert rule", where the Speaker of the House won't allow votes on a bill unless it has the support of the majority of the Speaker's party. So even if there is a majority for a particular bill, it might not get to a vote because a large minority of House members won't vote for it.

Of course, the Hastert rule is not an actual rule - the Speaker can allow a vote on any bill he or she pleases. But doing so would invite a leadership challenge.