After The Pope's Visit, Boehner Decides 'Today's The Day To Do This'

Transcript

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

John Boehner says he woke up this morning, a day after the pope's historic address to Congress, said his prayers and decided today's the day to do this.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Do this, meaning resign. Next month, Boehner will step down as speaker and leave Congress. John Boehner has had a tumultuous four-and-a-half years with the gavel. This summer, some of the most conservative members of his caucus openly talked of a coup.

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JOHN BOEHNER: It's become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution. So this morning, I informed my colleagues that I would resign from the speakership and resign from Congress at the end of October.

MCEVERS: In a moment, we'll hear from one member who's been unhappy with Boehner's leadership for years. Today, the speaker brushed off the notion he was at risk of being toppled and said he looked forward to the time he has left in the House.

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BOEHNER: I'm going to be here for another five weeks, and I'm not going to leave. I'm not going to sit around here and do nothing for the next 30 days. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, and I plan on getting as much of it done as I can before I exit.

SHAPIRO: At the White House, President Obama called Boehner a good man, a patriot, someone who cares about America.

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BARACK OBAMA: My hope is there's a recognition on the part of the next speaker - something I think John understood even though, at times, it was challenging to bring his caucus along - that we can have significant differences on issues, but that doesn't mean you shut down the government. That doesn't mean you risk the full faith and credit of the United States.

SHAPIRO: And the president added, when you have divided government, when you have a democracy, compromise is necessary. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.