We'll Miss you, John

As I’m sure you’ve heard, Ohio representative and Speaker of the House John Boehner announced on Friday morning that he will not be completing his 25th year in office. This announcement comes after much pressure from a Democratic-controlled Washington. 

Born in Reading, Ohio, John Boehner attended Xavier University and served briefly in the Navy before turning to politics. He was elected as an Ohio representative in 1990, remaining in that position until becoming Speaker in 2011. During his long career in the House, Boehner also served as Chairman of the House Republican Conference and of the House Education Committee. 

Boehner currently represents the 8th congressional district of Ohio, an area including Cincinnati and Dayton and the also the city in which he was born. As Speaker of the House, Boehner is third in line for the Presidency. Under Boehner’s leadership, lawmakers have strived to improve the legislative process and ensure that the priorities of the people are the priorities of Congress. Due to Boehner’s efforts, it is now required that all bills are posted online three days or more before a vote. Boehner also led Republican lawmakers to adopt the first ever ban on earmarks.

Despite recent years of being thrust into unenviable positions, Boehner is quite proud of what Congress has managed to accomplish in 2015. He gave a short speech in July summarizing House accomplishments:

“Let me start by saying that I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in Congress so far this year. We’ve achieved the first real entitlement reform in nearly two decades, which will save taxpayers some $2.9 trillion over the long term. We passed the first 10-year House-Senate balanced budget plan since 2001. And, we’ve enacted new tools to fight human trafficking, new resources to improve veterans’ care, and a plan to advance free trade and promote more American jobs.”

“I’m also proud of what we’ve accomplished as a Republican majority. We’ve cut spending by more than $2.1 trillion – the most significant spending reductions in modern history, and more than what we saw under the Reagan & O’Neill arrangement back in the 80s. We protected 99 percent of Americans from a permanent increase in their taxes. We’ve enacted three pro-growth free trade agreements. We’ve enacted job training reform, student loan reform, VA reform, Medicare reform. All over just the last four and a half years. We’ve stopped the transfer of terrorist detainees into the U.S. We’ve banned earmarks and have the most open legislative process that we’ve seen in modern time. We passed the most pro-life legislation in history. And we’ve done all this with a Democrat in the White House.”

Boehner will remain Speaker of the House until the end of October. After that, members of the House will select a new Speaker. Their sights seem to be set on House Majority leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as potential leaders.