Speaker Boehner to resign. What does that mean for the GOP?

@SoDakCampaigns

John Boehner’s office just confirmed that he’s going to resign as Speaker of the House.

What does that mean for the GOP, and more specifically, what does that mean for South Dakota’s Congresswoman Kristi Noem?

(Is it here where we plug Kristi for Speaker? )

94 thoughts on “Speaker Boehner to resign. What does that mean for the GOP?”

  1. What does it mean?

    Fewer tears?

    Hopefully, dignified opposition to the Obama’s illegal actions.

    1. “Obama’s illegal actions”?– Give that list and tell us why the Obama haters in congress don’t have impeachment hearings going.

      1. You don’t see impeachment proceedings because most of the things he has done are not impeachable offenses. But if you do not believe he has done things illegally, then explain why the courts have on several occasions said he overstepped his authority.

        1. Can you just see the riots if the first Black President (if you don’t count Clinton!) were to be impeached?! That’s why. And the fact that the GOP in charge in DC doesn’t have the spine to do it.

          As to illegal, here’s a few. He refused to enforce the law regarding DOMA. Then he refused to enforce the law regarding illegal immigration. He repeatedly said he did not have the authority to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants, but then he just did it anyway. He couldn’t get some of his EPA wishes thru Congress so he just issued an executive order. We just got back from a trip to Germany, and that’s the way kings did it in the past,. BUT note to Obama, the US founders never wanted a king, and we never had a king until now!

  2. Yesterday, he accomplished a goal he began to pursue in 1994. No more encores will rival it for him.

    All polls say the number #1 concern on the minds is the economy, jobs and the deficit. Who better to be the face of the House to lead on the issue than Budget Chairman Paul Ryan.

      1. ryan came off like kind of a dud during the 2012 elections. he’s not sending a thrill up my leg.

    2. Ryan is Ways & Means Chair, not Budget. And he’s consistently said Ways & Means is his dream job (shows how wonky he is). Plus he’s said that Speaker is not a good job for someone with kids.

      But I do agree that he would definitely be the best choice

    3. “#1 concern on the minds is the economy, jobs and the deficit.—-“?. Deficit= cut by two/thirds, could end by the time Obama leaves office.— “economy” = Not so bad considering 5-6 years ago–“jobs”– 5.1%—- I think sir, you just illustrated the ignorance of most conservatives, especially the t- brains.

      Sir, notice how little the (R) prez candidates speak of the things you list or—-Obamacare. Why is that?

      1. “Deficit= cut by two/thirds, could end by the time Obama leaves office” Fiscal year 2008 the deficit was $458 billion. Fiscal year 2016 the deficit is expected to be $455 billion. The only reason it is a drop in deficits is because under Obama the deficit was run up to over $1 trillion. BTW, much of fiscal 2009 can be assigned to Obama because the budget was not acted upon by the Senate in 2008 because they figured the new President should make that budget. And President Obama DID increase the spending.

  3. Right now there isn’t anyone in DC I’m really excited about taking the reigns as Speaker and that includes Kristi. I like Kristi as a person but I want someone who is willing to go the opposite way Boehner and McCarthy go. She goes with them most of the time and not the rank and file.

    McConnell should step aside for John Thune. The senate could use a guy like Thune running the show.

    1. 1. none of our congress members should be in top leadership. rounds maybe because i like his gutchecks and instincts.

      2. who i like: darrell issa of california, steve king of iowa, tom cole of oklahoma, candice miller of michigan, and bob goodlatte of virginia. also kevin brady of texas who should do more economic oversight.

  4. Ryan is the prototypical RINO. Oh wait, 99 percent of folks posting here are also RINOs. Ryan might be slightly better than Kevin McCarthy– a Boehner lacky. Personally, I’d favor Trey Gowdy. I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest Louie Gohmert, who probably has as many enemies as Boehner, but Gowdy? Hell yes.

    But the more immediate question is who will Kristi Cheerleader support now that her bawling, Nancy Pelosi-kissing Sugar Daddy is heading back to run the bar room in Ohio?

    Suggesting Kristi Cowgirl as Speaker is like suggesting Groucho Marx as the next Pope. Hilarious suggestions, both of them.

    1. TJ’s suggestion of Ryan sounds good; Trey Gowdy as well, but geez how about a House resolution for Trey to visit Kristi’s hair stylist?

  5. McCarthy will likely replace him as Speaker.

    While I’ve had my share of disagreements with his leadership, I have to admit it’s a really tough job. I’m glad he realized it was time to move on.

    I too, would like to see McConnell step aside and let John Thune take his position.

    A new poll recognizes that a majoriy of Republican voters are dissatisfied with the current leadership and it’s time for a change.

  6. I wonder if Gowdy will run. It will take him off the Benghazi-email investigation. Careers get made in such situations, ala the Watergate hearings.

    Ryan, the toughest budget cutter and the only one to submit a comprehensive plan to get to a balanced budget is a rino and one closely aligned with Gowdy both personally and politically. Well, now the test to be a “True Republican” has been reduced to maybe 10 members of the House.

    1. I disagree with the notion that Gowdy is a rino. He certainly is not as hard right as Gohmert, at least publicly, Gowdy has plenty of fire and yet as a skilled prosecutor understands how to hit someone between the eyes by coming off as surprised and indignant, and it is effective. The only other consideration is that one or more of the current GOP presidential field have got to be thinking: “Hey, this Gowdy fellow would make a splendid Attorney General in my cabinet.” And he would. So that argues for him to stay where he is, chairing that corruption committee for the time being. Some may also thinking that Ted Cruz, should he not be the nominee, would make a mighty fine Supreme Court Justice. And he would.

      Ryan has fallen flat on his face so many times I have lost count. He certainly talks a good game, but then so do Boehner and McConnell. And voters have had quite enough of talk and non-binding show votes in both houses. The Congress had better change its ways and be responsive to the people of the GOP or their worst nightmare is right around the corner— Donald Trump

      I AM NOT a Trump supporter. But I thank him for raising issues that others are afraid to discuss and prefer to dance around. It has forced the others to step up their game. That is good. And the one thing Trump is spot-on about: there IS a “movement” out there and there IS a “silent majority” out there who are utterly disgusted with the Republican Party. And people are so fed up and desperate with the decline of the country they really could care less if TRUMP is a Republican or Democrat or Independent. They want some bold action, sooner, not later. And if Trump is elected, there will be a new Sheriff in town and if you think Obama has by-passed Congress, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. That;s what billionaire business people do– find ways around the road-blocks. Bold, creative and yes– agressive– actions by Senate and House Republicans right now and for the next 12 months could save their collective fannies. And if it means the government shuts down because Obama will veto bill after bill, then that is just fine. The people are on to that by now. Everyone knows the government does NOT “shut down.” All essential services are maintained. So Boehner’s and McConnell’s timidity is just plain horse hockey. They’ve both been in power way way too long and don’t want to rock their own canoe.

      1. Trump is certainly raising awareness.

        I’m not convinced he would be effective.

        I think Trump’s entry into the race is a positive, but I’m not convinced his winning the nomination would be.

        That said, we could do worse. We’ve already proven that. for almost 8 long years…

  7. Absolutely wonderful news. The only thing better would be the resignation of McConnell.

    Trey Gowdy for Speaker.

  8. I hadn’t thought of trey gowdy. That’s my pick if he’d do it.

    Kristi doesn’t go against leadership so I couldn’t go there. She’s too much of a follower.

  9. This is the biggest gift the Democrats could have received. A few years ago we witnessed the cracks in the Republican party. Now we’re going to see a crevasse. There is total chaos over there now.

    Do you think the entrenched House members and their owners are just going to roll over and play dead as the radical right wingers run out their coup fantasies?

    We will soon be able to appreciate what’s going to happen from these Gordon Lightfoot song lyrics from “Sundown.”

    “Sometimes I think it’s a sin when I feel like I’m winning when I’m losing again.”

    1. A gift? Getting rid of a spineless mealy-mouthed guy like Boehner and having the possibility of getting somebody with a backbone to work against Obama and his minions doesn’t sound like a gift for your side, Heisenberg. Talk about trying to make lemonade out of lemons.

      Your support for the evil being perpetrated on the country by the Democrat party and the tyrannical Barack Hussein Obama shows your foundation is built upon sand.

      1. OUCH! That really hurt.

        I can sense some anger about the paradigm shift that’s going on in the country. I know you feel helpless against the change and you are right – you are helpless against it.

        The gift I talk about is that the Democrats are going to be able to point out the chaos and dysfunction of the House Republicans and demonstrate that they should not be in a position to lead.

        Another song lyric for you from Jonathan Edwards’ great song “Sunshine.”

        “He can’t even run his own life, I’ll be damned if he’ll run mine.”

        In case you can’t figure out how this translates to this particular Republican fiasco, it is this: If Republicans can’t even keep their house in order, how can we expect them to manage the affairs of the United States? Or be a leader in the world?

        It’s chaos over there, I tell you – and it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The greatest gift Boehner could have ever given the Democrats.

      2. i like boehner a lot and think he had a very thankless job over the last ten years. but i’m not going to tell you it’s bad that he’s gone. however you’re going to see one of two things – – a new brave leader getting the biggest smackdown in all creation because he didn’t know that boehner didn’t do some things because the democrats were ready to exploit the crap out of them. OR – a new brave leader moving only slightly less cautiously than boehner did, and making you even more angry than you were at boehner. seems likely. you folks aren’t ever very happy about anything.

    2. Actually, a change in leadership may be the sign that the “Stupid Party” is starting to “get it.”

      The most “radical” members of BOTH parties are dissatisfied with their leadership, but in a broader sense, the GOP leadership has been timid to address the concerns of both party members and “leaning” independents with substantive alternatives and the resolve to confront the leadership.

      Neither Boehner, nor McConnell, has been effective in communicating a positive alternative to this administration’s policies. Maybe, they’re just so used to being in the minority that they don’t understand how to appeal to a broader majority that are dissatisfied with the status quo.

      While I respect his service, I’m glad that Speaker Boehner realizes it’s time for him to move on. I only hope that Majority Leader McConnell realizes the same.

  11. Ryan removed himself from consideration. Said that his young family obligations preclude him from such a position.

    Hensarling & McCarthy are the only two being discussed as potentially able to get to the final ballot.

  12. Two short term* potential positives come to mind:

    1. The pending government shutdown won’t happen
    2. The immigration reform bill will get passed.

    There is some speculation on the left that the Speaker is falling on a grenade here for the good of his country. A legacy move. Perhaps Pope Francis inspired him?
    _______________
    *between now and Boehner’s x-date

      1. The one I’m thinking of is the bipartisan bill the Senate passed last time and the House refused to vote on it. It’s my understanding there were then— and are now — enough votes in the House to pass it tomorrow, if Boehner decides to bring it to a vote. All he has to do is ignore the Hastert Rule and let the whole House vote it up or down.

        1. Umm that bill would then have to be passed by the Senate again, where there’s surely not enough votes anymore.

    2. Why is a shutdown bad? The last time the government got shut down the only people affected were veterans who wanted to visit the WWII memorial because the Obama Administration shut it down. Even people furloughed were given back pay.
      Why would President Obama want to shut down the government over the lack of funding for an abortion provider that does not offer the services advertised (call Planned Parenthood and ask them to come in for a mammogram).
      One of the reasons Boehner is resigning is because he would not stand up to the Democrats and the President. He and McConnell both act like they are in the minority.

  13. Heisenberg,

    If you think Boehner gave the Democrats a gift, you are delusional. He can now be the punching bag for the GOP and no longer be the punching bag for the Dems. Dems lost twice.

    Here is the reality: There are 15 of the most conservative and about 15 who had personal problems with Boehner. This meant that if they made a charge at him, Boehner would need some Dems to get him over the 218 to remain speaker and have a governing majority. Now, most if not all 30 will declare victory and be back on the team.

    1. Interesting Troy. Are those 30 you mention thinking the US should have a Parliament instead of a Democracy? Seems to me, a good Speaker’s job would be to whip all the votes, not just those of his own party. Otherwise, where’s the leadership? The SOH is 3rd in line to run the whole country. Why should s/he fold just to appease his (minority) party’s radicals?

      1. Why shouldn’t the SOH stand up to the President like the people who voted him and his party into power rather than roll over for an over-reaching President? And did you hold SOH Pelosi to this same standard?

        1. The ‘people’ didn’t vote the GOP into power in Congress. They gerrymandered themselves into power. The people should stand up to that. And to the oligarchy that perpetuates their unconscionable abuse of that power. I hope you join me in that cause, duggersd.

            1. I don’t remember you getting all over Pelosi a few years ago. Maybe you did, but I don’t remember it.
              I do not disagree that things could run better in Congress. I remember when Tim Johnson would not allow a vote on certain people President Bush wanted put into positions. I believe there were some judgeships held up by the Democrats. Perhaps if the Democrats showed a willingness to compromise instead of block?

          2. *sigh* a majority of voters certainly handed the house back to the republicans in 2010 thanks to tea party energy. while they’ve held the majority since then, and gained the senate by a slim margin this last time, the ability to rule and overwhelm just isn’t there for the republicans. and the will to rule unilaterally and overrun opponents like the president and democrats do, just isn’t there on the side of the party that believes in traditional u-s republican governance and the separation of powers. if you want gerrymandering, i don’t know how you find something more specious and odd than the shape and configuration of barney frank’s old district in massachusetts.

            1. I don’t support gerrymandering by either party. And I’m not going to argue about the election statistics in question. You can look them up for yourself. There were far more Dem votes cast for House than Repub votes, even in an ‘off’ year. This is widely known, and gerrymandering is the widely recognized cause of the effect. Let’s save our debate time for things that are really debatable.

                1. Did you say the same thing in the 1970’s and 1980’s when the Democrats controlled Congress and had gerrymandered districts? You would need to change the Constitution, I believe.

              2. there were more democrat votes in heavily democrat districts and also because of turnout efforts in areas where democrats who shouldn’t have been in danger, but were in danger. or are you advocating a totally at-large national vote for congress members and eliminating districts? then the national turnout number actually has a meaning to it.

                1. if you challenge the basic scientific underpinnings of global warming, you meet mostly ridicule and bullying instead of a logical discussion over whether your discrepancies are valid or not. if you create and promote a better plan to replace obamacare, your plan isn’t discussed, you’re ridiculed as ‘having no plan.’ so if i say redistricting wasn’t the problem in the election, forgive me if i’m dismissive of any charge that i’m the one full of crap.

    2. Nice try, Troy. All the dogmatists in here buy your ‘splainin, but I just can’t swallow that much excrement. Try me Monday before I have taken in my recommended daily allowance.

      Here is what’s going to happen.

      1. The TEA Baggers implement their next step of the GOP takeover.

      2. They force their childish ideas down the throats of the reasonable GOP representatives – the battered majority.

      3. The TEA Baggers browbeat the rest of their GOP colleagues and shut down the government over a single issue. The majority of America is really PO’d this time. And the blame is clearly on the Republicans. Even their long-serving Speaker of the House can’t take it any more!

      4. Obama doesn’t bend and neither does the US Senate. The leadership over there already said they are not going to try to defund Planned Parenthood by shutting down the government. Only the TEA Baggers have that on their minds. The TEA Baggers lose once again – remaining completely defeated in their tenure – and look even worse in this defeat than they did in the last one – and this time make the entire Republican party look horrible. And stupid.

      5. TEA Baggers keep their seats in the next election because of guns, alcohol enemy flag worship and a completely-bastardized idea of the US Constitution. But the Democrats take back the Senate.

      6. Hillary Clinton becomes the next President because everybody in the Republican Clown Car running is permanently attached to the TEA Baggers because of all the stupid positions they had to take while trying to win the primary. Do you know how bad this is going to look for the GOP? After a BILLION put against Clinton on the Benghazi scavenger hunt and the email scandal. The Republicans still won’t be able to win the presidency.

      7. You all will be in here chanting Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi while the world moves forward – once again – without you.

      Mark down this day and bookmark the post. You have been introduced to the Future. Like it or not.

      1. wrong again. the only thing likely to happen, is that the things which limited the action of the house majority in the past will continue to limit the action of the house majority in the future. the only thing i see coming out of this is continued aggravation for grassroots tea party people and conservatives. the delightful side of it all is when all the critics of boehner who are closer to the seat of power have to decide whether they’re going to tell voters the process is what it is, very broken, OR pull out the knives and go after the new speaker for their own political gain again.

  14. Heisenberg: I’ll save this discussion. We are both prognosticating. You have your prediction. I have mine. We’ll look at again in a year.

    Side note:

    I think Rubio and Cruz made a mistake by seeming to take glee in the decision of Boehner to resign. There is an old maxim: Even if everyone wants a head chopped, the executioner never is seen in a positive light.

    They should have just thanked Boehner for his service and then say the decision is that of the House GOP Caucus.

    1. Troy, fair enough. Something’s going to happen and none of can have certainty of what. Sort of like a Heisenberg Principle for politics.

      You’re right about Cruz and Rubio – but in this reverse-environment year, maybe they’re smart to do that. We’ll have to see how far they get sucked in and how the establishment deals with it. I predict the reaction will become harsher because they didn’t learn the lesson the first time.

      1. Predictions aside, this is one of the coolest moves Boehner has ever made, and I salute him for it. I cried with him yesterday while the Pope was speaking and I’m having a little chuckle with him today over this announcement. Closest I’ve ever felt to the man.

        1. glad you didn’t hit a vote on a newt gingrich bill. the immediate parting of ways probably would have taken some skin off

          1. Is this one of those days when you’ve forgotten how to both read AND write? If so, no worries. I have ’em to. 🙂

            1. i was commenting on your professed closeness. that’s all. i read your post. if the two of you had to move in tandem on a newt gingrich proposal of any sort, i’m guessing you’d go one way, while boehner went the other way. he is a conservative after all. the rapid force of the separation of you and boehner in the face of a conservative course change is the only thing i was commenting. on. i’ve now read your post four times, and read this one at least twice before hitting the button, in the interest of clarity.

                1. I don’t understand what Newt has to do with anything I said. But whatever it is, it’s not a problem, at least for me.

                  Most of the time, I don’t have much at all in common with Mr. Boehner (or Mr. Gingrich either for that matter) be it ideologically, substantively or stylistically, but in this instance, especially in his frustration over some in his party, his opinion of Cruz being a “jackass”, his love for our Pope and the instruction to follow the Golden Rule, I found myself surprisingly in complete agreement with him.

                  Now, when you can gather your thoughts about Newt and feel comfortable expressing them, I’m sure more clarity will issue from you and that will be most refreshing. Meanwhile, enjoy your day, friend.

                  p.s. Is it possible that with this clarification, we are now saying the same thing?

                  1. newt was just the most polarizing conservative thing i could come up with for the moment, certainly the last polarizing conservative that could actually accomplish something. i was only bringing the former ousted speaker up as leverage for a horrible joke attempt. i suck. you win. bye.

  15. Agree that Gowdy isn’t a rino. But, whoever said Ryan is a rino, implicates Gowdy as a rino as they are political allies and personal friends.

  16. Heisenberg,

    My comment is about how anyone in DC will react to Rubio & Cruz’s comments. In DC, lame ducks and “former” are forgotten faster than water going down a drain.

    I’m talking about the primary voter. Both Rubio & Cruz have a job to be positioning themself to attract voters who are currently with someone else. I’m not sure shooting a guy who just laid on the sword will serve their purposes.

  18. The comments about Thune becoming Senate Majority Leader drive me crazy. How would this be different than Daschle? Thune would have to be the face of the entire Republican senate, and that would conflict with SD at times. There’s no way around that, SD and national politics just aren’t the same.

    I don’t want that for him, or for us.

      1. Likely true, as far as it goes, but I do think John Thune would be a good leader for both State and Country.

        It’s possible to do both.

        Not easy, but do-able.

    2. Endrizzi,
      Thune has moved to the Left already when he became leadership in the Senate, so you are spot on.

      He didn’t get his current war chest from South Dakota, that’s all “K” Street DC thanks..

  20. What’ll happen with the Tea Party running the House? Relentless attacks on Hillary will finally cripple her, while the country rejects the far-right agenda as it has for years. Result: we’ll be swearing in Bernie Sanders come Jan 2017. Get ready for socialism, folks, we’ve become France.

        1. i did read the entire post. it was only three sentences. nowhere in it did you actually laugh at anything that could be identified, so i was left with guessing due to your inept presentation. your ineptness is typical.

          1. You had to guess because you really are that stupid. I am so sorry you couldn’t figure out what I was laughing at. Try harder, you might get it. No wonder you lost your job.

  22. I would like to see a new SOH who does something other than go along to get along. I do not believe Boehner was a RINO nor especially moderate. I believe he has mostly conservative principles. The problem is he and his counterpart in the Senate are afraid of bad press. It does not matter who causes a shut down. President Obama has said the Republicans should compromise. What is HE willing to give up? He believes it is OK to kill a baby who survives a botched abortion. The Republicans own 2/3 of the lawmaking process (not counting SCOTUS–they are not SUPPOSED to legislate). It is time to start acting like they own it.

  23. republicans have basically been neutered since the bill clinton years, even though the framework of the ‘contract with america’ laid the foundation for a dozen years of economic prosperity beginning in the mid-90’s. when the theme of the 2000 congressional races was about the wise financial course and the much-touted surplus, democrats had already floated their narrative about how keeping taxes high was crucial to prosperity, while republicans just smiled and nodded when the surplus was praised. NOBODY, hardly anyone, reviewed the mechanics of how it was actually achieved, and why the overtaxing was a problem. and NOBODY uttered a word about reducing overall debt, they just cruised along with no new deficits. republicans ceded their solid defendable ground more and more every year. by the time of the 2006 election cycle, they had little or no response to pelosi’s outlandish charges that republicans created the eeeeeevil pork barrel and that the swamp she herself fought to create should instead be ‘drained.’ the single failure to retain power in that election made the congress go from a financially responsible and legal entity, to a freespending overborrowing out-of-compliance nightmare under four years of pelosi and reid. THAT group of republicans must bear the brunt of history’s disdain, and THIS group of republican survivors and congressional newbies is doing the best they can with the crap-soaked end of the stick they are handed over and over by democrats. i don’t know where this ‘vast power’ you talk about is being hidden. go get it and take it to congress.

    1. You make some valid points. The main thing I am getting at is that the Republicans have power. They refuse to use it. In doing so, they are making the people who voted them in feel betrayed. I believe the Republican party is at a crossroads. They have the ability to actually do something. If they cannot, they will go the way of the Whig party. At least the Democrats are willing to fight.

      1. republicans have some leverage, but not that much power, all things considered. it’s like putting a lever under your end of a big rock, then giving it a big yank, only to have the democrats repeatedly let go of their lever so that yours whacks you in the face over and over and over. that’s the kind of power republicans have. that’s why the president has to change. that’s why we have to protect the house and fight for more senate seats and i mean fight to the bitter uttermost.

        1. we can’t just do the dumb fight mark levin and the talk show dorks promote with their lists of needed laws and such. we have to go back to the start of the dysfunction itself and fight the loud fight that was not waged in 2006, the fight to defend the republican party’s record of sound fiscal management up to that time, and now with the absolute proof of the nightmare lie democrats told voters about their own fiscal tightness, proven in the record of the pelosi speakership. every chart you can draw from the numbers shows how quickly the wheels came off, and who was in power when the campaign to dismantle congress began. san fran gran nan.

  24. The top three contenders for the Republican Presidential nomination are not politicians and now the Republican Speaker of the US House is resigning mid term….. Huh?…. I wonder what that says about the current leadership qualities of the Republican party nationally?

    1. it says more about the morass that reid and pelosi made of congress that benefits democrats. that’s why there’s less trouble over there. democrats benefit when they totally obstruct the public process. democrats benefit when they promise things and can’t deliver because of a broken process. democrats only worry about having the perfect pulpit to shift the blame for their obstructing onto the republicans. most people are happy enough that the democrats CAN’T do what they want, but they’re frustrated that the democrat obstruction has made the republican party look totally non-functional. it’s like benefitting from the crowd’s laughter after you toss a towel over chuck norris and whack his head repeatedly with a wiffle bat. sooner or later chuck will get the towel off. don’t forget that.

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