Free Republic

Los Angeles (AFP) - President Barack Obama said the Republican Party has "gone off the deep end" with its messy failure to elect a new speaker of the House of Representatives. The Republican-controlled House was left in shock and disarray this week when Kevin McCarthy, the frontrunner to replace John Boehner, who has announced his resignation, suddenly withdrew from the race because of a revolt by conservatives. The challenge now is to find a consensus candidate who can soothe wounds and unite a fractious caucus. Obama addressed the drama at an expensive fundraiser at a private home in Los Angeles....

Speaker John Boehner is considering delaying the internal election for House majority leader and majority whip, leaving only the party vote for speaker to be decided on Thursday, according to multiple Republican sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) is circulating a letter requesting a delay in the elections for the No. 2 and No. 3 slots in leadership. There is also widespread interest in considering a change in internal party rules that would force candidates to resign chairmanships and leadership slots to run for new office.  There is serious unrest in the House Republican...

The stunning decision by House Speaker John Boehner to resign from office in October is a sign of not only his inability to lead a congressional party riven between its establishment and tea party wings, but also the toll fighting that fight has taken on him -- and the GOP more broadly. Almost since the day he became speaker -- following the tea party-led takeover of Congress in the 2010 midterm elections -- Boehner had been caught betwixt and between. His roots were firmly in the establishment end of the party, having spent decades in Congress and moving up the...

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Saturday to react to Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner's (R-OH) announced resignation set for the end of October. “First of all, I awoke this morning, I said my prayers and I said, Thank you, Lord,” Gohmert said of his reaction Saturday morning. The congressman from Texas stated that under Boehner there has been a “dictatorship” and a more conservative Speaker will actually listen to the majority. “I think that you will see a – no matter who the Speaker is, and I’m supporting Dan Webster of...

Why the Speaker's resignation is great news for conservatives. “We want to give Boehner a governable majority so the crazies you hate will be irrelevant.” This is how the Washington Republican Establishment talks to its K Street allies. It’s a quote from last October when a Republican campaign operative told the business community why it was important for Republicans to capture 245 House seats. The establishment isn’t focused on marginalizing liberal lawmakers trying to grow the size and scope of government. They want to marginalize conservative lawmakers fighting to keep the reasonable promises they have made to their constituents. The...

John Hawkins writes at Townhall: "Boehner Resigned? Good. Go Cry, Drink And Surrender Somewhere Else." Well, Boehner's resignation is far too late for me and especially far too late for the Fast and Furious investigation that he derailed because the FBI was blackmailing him. Long-time readers will recall that when the Issa committee got around to noticing the fact, uncovered by this blog and FOX News' William La Jeunesse, that the middle men who the ATF agents were forbidden by their superiors from following (the ones who actually transported the weapons across the border) were the Miramontes brothers who were...

Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced Friday he will resign from Congress -- his seat as well as his speakership -- at the end of October after more than 20 years on Capitol Hill. The resignation will likely see a throng of Republicans vie to replace Boehner, who in recent months has faced pressure to step down over internal GOP fighting on issues such as funding for disease research, an education bill and the possible renewal of the Export-Import Bank. Below is a list of the members most likely to replace him. 1. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.: McCarthy has...

U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, released the following statement after Speaker John Boehner announced his resignation from the position of Speaker of the House: "America is at an incredibly perilous time in our history; we need bold leadership more than ever, and the Speaker now has graciously given us that opportunity." "Due in part to the massive shift in power away from the most accountable representatives of the people to a President and five judges, we have needed leadership with vision for the future that did not continue the downhill slide. A goal to simply slow the losses of liberty...

Is immigration reform dead? "No, immigration reform is going to happen," Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the House Republican whip, told CBS's Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation."

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WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz says the Republican leadership in Congress is guilty of “peremptory surrender” once again, criticizing House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for not going along with the plan favored by conservatives to defund Planned Parenthood.“Republicans need to act like Republicans,” Cruz said Thursday afternoon to a group of reporters inside his Capitol Hill office. “Leadership needs to lead. Together, we need to actually honor the commitments to the men and women who elected us.”Speaking at a long brown table in his conference room and sipping on a diet Dr. Pepper, Cruz,...

MSNBC Reporting on TV that Boehner is resigning next month but didn't see it on their web page.

House Speaker John Boehner told lawmakers Friday that he plans to resign at the end of October, in a stunning development that comes amid mounting friction with the conservative wing of the party. He plans to step down as speaker, and resign from Congress. The 13-term Ohio Republican shocked his GOP caucus early Friday morning when he informed them of his decision in a closed-door session. One lawmaker told Fox News he was "stunned," and that there was "some anger" in the room "against the people who caused this to happen." The announcement came one day after the high point...

Sources tell Breitbart News that several members of the House of Representatives are saying “the rumor is Boehner cut a deal with Pelosi.” According to those sources, outgoing House Speaker Rep. John Boehner and Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi agreed that her Democratic caucus would join Boehner along with a handful of Boehner loyalists and moderate establishment Republicans to continue Planned Parenthood funding, along with a few other budget items President Obama says were must-haves, in order to avoid a Government shutdown. Boehner resigned because he knew that after he cut that deal, conservatives in his own party would be...

The man John Boehner once called a "jackass" took the stage... Although Ted Cruz may have been inclined to dance on the speaker's political grave, he made reference to the surprising news only in passing. "You want to know how much each of you terrify Washington?" Mr Cruz asked ..."Yesterday, John Boehner was Speaker of the House. Y'all come to town and somehow that changes." "My only request," he quipped, "is, can you come more often?" Mr Cruz has clashed repeatedly with his party's leadership over the past several years... After his speech today, Cruz expressed concern that Mr Boehner...

He is bawling at his press conference concerning his resignation.

Republican leaders, including House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, of Bakersfield, are calling for the first time to give legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The GOP leadership is in the process of drafting principles on immigration reform and will soon release a document that outlines the party's position on the politically sensitive and volatile issue. In a Tuesday evening interview with Eyewitness News, McCarthy said he is in favor of granting legal status to those undocumented immigrants who qualify. "The principles aren't written yet, but in my personal belief, I think it'll go with...

The third-ranking House Republican is offering support for a path to legal status that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants in the country to work and pay their taxes. In a new interview published late Tuesday, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hinted that those contours of legal status may be included in the immigration principles that House GOP leaders are poised to soon release. “The principles aren’t combined or written out yet, but in my personal belief, I think you’ll go with legal status,” McCarthy told KBAK/KBFX Eyewitness News in Bakersfield, Calif. “That it will allow you to work...

Popular talk radio host and best-selling author Mark Levin is warning Republicans in Washington: don’t replace outgoing House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) with Rep. Kevin McCarthy. (R-CA) Levin’s a tirelessly warrior against Speaker Boehner and the Washington establishment. “Kevin McCarthy is Eric Cantor with ten less IQ points,” Levin declares in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. The radio star adds Republicans must learn their lesson and not repeat the mistakes they made following Eric Cantor’s historic fall from power—namely that Republicans must replace Boehner with a “principled conservative.” Levin explained that with the resounding defeat of the former-House...

WASHINGTON — Hours after House Speaker John Boehner announced that he would be resigning from Congress, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz added fuel to the fire by saying he’d heard “early reports” that Boehner cut a deal with Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to continue funding some of President Barack Obama’s most controversial measures. “I will say, the early reports are discouraging. If it is correct that the speaker, before he resigns, has cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to fund the Obama administration for the rest of its tenure, to fund Obamacare, to fund executive amnesty, to fund Planned Parenthood, to fund implementation...