Conservatives welcome Boehner departure
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some conservative House members are welcoming today's news that House Speaker John Boehner is leaving Congress.
Republican Tom Massie of Kentucky says Boehner brought it on himself -- saying the speaker had "subverted our republic." And Tim Huelskamp of Kansas said it's "time for new leadership."
But more mainstream Republicans said the right wing has scored a small victory that will come back to haunt them. David Jolly of Florida denounced what he called "the idiocy of those members who seek to continually divide us." He referred to Boehner's foes as the "shutdown caucus."
Boehner was facing the threat of a floor vote on whether he could stay on as speaker, a formal challenge that hasn't happened in over 100 years. That was being pushed by tea partyers convinced Boehner wasn't fighting hard enough to strip Planned Parenthood of government funds, even though doing so risked a government shutdown next week.