Congress

Speaker John Boehner is Resigning From Congress. What Happens Next?

This certainly isn't the headline I expected to read and write when I woke up this morning, but it's not entirely surprising.

Hardline conservatives have railed against Speaker of the House John Boehner for years and have failed to oust him multiple times, but Boehner will save them the trouble by resigning from Congress next month.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner will resign from Congress at the end of October, ending a tumultuous five-year tenure at the helm of the House and a 25-year career in Congress.

Boehner made the surprise announcement to stunned GOP colleagues at a closed-door meeting Friday morning — less than 24 hours after he reveled in the first-ever papal speech to a joint session of Congress, something he has dreamed of for 20 years, and as the government is on the verge of another shutdown if Boehner's fractious caucus in the House can't reach agreement with the Senate to fund the government beyond Sept. 30.

Given that he is resigning, Boehner has no reason not to bring a clean continuing resolution to fund the federal government up for a vote. Republicans will balk as they always have, but Boehner can pass a clean resolution with Democratic support and then ride off into the sunset.

Congress may avert a shutdown set to begin next Wednesday night at midnight, but that doesn't mean we're out of the woods. Things actually could get worse from here.

Whoever replaces Boehner as Speaker of the House may not be willing to compromise at the last minute and pass crucial legislation with cross-party support. A government shutdown may be averted next week, but the chances that we'll face more shutdowns in the coming months have increased. The Flying Monkey Caucus will not confirm a leader who isn't willing to go the distance and push the nation off a cliff.

If we're lucky, Boehner will pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling before he leaves office. If not, holy shit.