On Friday morning, US Representative Richard Neal got his usual cup of coffee at Pete’s Diner on Capitol Hill and ran into House Speaker John Boehner, as he often does in Washington.
“I congratulated him on the pope’s presentation and told him, ‘Hey John, you had a great day. He gave me a thumbs-up,’ ” said Neal. Soon afterwards, the startling news broke: Boehner – whose teary-eyed reaction to the pope is now part of that day’s history – would give up his powerful position and resign from the House of Representatives at the end of October.
To this veteran Democrat from Massachusetts, Boehner’s decision is “an act of courage” in the face of a contentious Republican caucus that pulled steadily right. Boehner, said Neal, is telling the ultraconservative Tea Party faction, “If you’ve got a better answer, let’s hear what it is.”
Of the suddenness of the announcement, Neal said, “I’m surprised, but not shocked. It has been percolating now for months.” With Boehner under increasing pressure from conservatives in his party, “I think he said, ‘Enough,’ ” said Neal.
Boehner has been trying to avoid the government shutdown that conservative Republicans are determined to force unless the House votes to defund Planned Parenthood. In an effort to remove him as speaker, his own party members planned to present a motion to vacate the chair – essentially a vote of no confidence, said Neal.
Neal was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1988. Boehner, from Ohio, has served since 1990. Washington was a very different place back then, said Neal. Since then, he said, “The art of legislating has been pushed aside in favor of strident talking points.” And, according to Neal, that is true in both parties. “There’s a developing Tea Party to the left of America that’s insisting on certain things that can’t be accomplished either,” said Neal. “They believe if you elect more strident people to Congress, your view will prevail.”
Majority leader Kevin McCarthy, of Bakersfield, Calif., is likely to be the next speaker, said Neal. If he goes down the Tea Party path, said Neal, it will just mean Republicans “plan to continue on this crusade they have to create chaos.”
That was not Boehner’s agenda. Colleagues like Neal consider him “a very decent guy” who was forced to move right — until he finally decided the only honorable move left to him was out of Washington.