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 The Ohio lawmaker, 65, stunned Republican House members at a
morning meeting on Friday with the announcement he will leave the
top job in the 435-seat chamber and resign his seat effective on
Oct. 30.
U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the No. 2 House
Republican, quickly became the leading contender to replace Boehner
as speaker, lawmakers said.
Representative Paul Ryan, a former U.S. vice presidential candidate,
told reporters in a Capitol hallway that McCarthy would likely be
the next speaker. Ryan said, "I don't want to be speaker."
Boehner's decision eased the threat of a government shutdown next
week, with many Republicans saying they would forge ahead with a
"clean" spending bill that does not withhold funding from the
women's reproductive health group Planned Parenthood, as threatened
by conservatives who objected to the group's abortion services.
 Only the day before, Boehner, a Catholic, hosted Pope Francis for an
address to Congress and broke down in tears as he stood with the
pope to greet crowds on the Capitol's West front.
PRESSURE OVER OBAMA
Boehner has faced constant pressure from conservatives who believed
he was too willing to compromise with President Barack Obama and too
likely to rely on Democratic votes to pass crucial legislation.
The approaching confrontation over government spending had raised
the prospect of another possible challenge to his speakership by
conservatives, something Boehner has beaten back several times
before.
"I saw him recently and he looked weary. Understandably, he was
tired," U.S. Senator John McCain, also a Republican, told reporters.
"Sometimes we fail to appreciate that these are human beings with
human emotions and lives to lead."
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Boehner's plan had been to serve as speaker only through the end of
last year, an aide said, but he changed his calculation when his No.
2 at the time, Eric Cantor, lost his seat last year in a Republican
primary.
The aide said Boehner wanted to avoid a leadership fight and
believed another bout of prolonged turmoil would do irreparable
damage to the institution.
The son of a bar owner and one of 12 children, Boehner is the only
college graduate in his family. He grew up in Cincinnati and served
in the U.S. Navy in 1969, then became a small businessman before
launching a political career.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi described his resignation as
"seismic to the House."
There was no immediate market reaction.
Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors,
said: “The near-term news is good in that it suggests that Boehner
is going to get a clean bill through as his last act as Speaker, but
the question becomes what happens post-Halloween and who the new
speaker is going to be.”
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan; Writing by John
Whitesides; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Tim Ahmann and Howard Goller)
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