House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will resign from Congress at the end of October, according to a report by the New York Times.
According to a Boehner aide, quoted by TIME:
Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with [Pope Francis], it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all.
The Speaker’s plan was to serve only through the end of last year. [Former Majority Leader Eric] Cantor’s loss in his primary changed that calculation.
The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution.
He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30.
Boehner was under pressure from the right-wing of his party over funding for Planned Parenthood.
This is a developing story.
