Boehner sets date for House leadership elections
The date is set: GOP House members will be voting to replace outgoing House Speaker John Boehner next week, during leadership elections scheduled for Oct. 8.
"After consulting with our conference, a large majority of our members have made clear they want these elections held next week," Boehner said Wednesday in a statement. "With their considerations in mind, the House leadership elections will take place on Thursday, October 8."
Boehner abruptly declared his resignation from the speakership last week, one day after Pope Francis addressed Congress.
The House Speaker, who has previously said that he had intended to reveal his plans in November, told CBS' "Face the Nation" Anchor John Dickerson that the pope's speech "helped clear the picture" for his resignation.
"Why do I want put my colleagues through this when I'm going to make the same announcement six weeks from now. Why do I want to put the institution through this?'" Boehner said to Dickerson. "It was the right decision, and frankly, I thought we handled it the right way."
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said Monday that he would run for the open seat, asking for his colleagues' support in a letter to fellow Republican representatives.
"We have made real progress towards shrinking an overgrown federal government and reforming our broken entitlement system. But our work is far from done," McCarthy wrote. "We can't ignore the differences that exist, but we can and must heal the divisions in our conference with work, time, and trust."
Echoing Boehner's own criticisms of some Republican members as "unrealistic" and "false prophets," McCarthy also added that the GOP majority needed to be "much closer to the people they represent."
Still, McCarthy, when asked on Fox News Monday what grade he'd give Boehner as speaker, responded, "B-."
Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Florida, is so far the only challenger to McCarthy for the position.
Two members, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, and Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, are vying to replace McCarthy for the House Majority leader job.