Jeb: We’re ‘going to miss’ Boehner

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) says Americans will miss outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“I admire John Boehner greatly, he’s a great public servant,” the GOP presidential candidate said on “Fox News Sunday.”

{mosads}“He left at the apex of his time in service to the country with the pope speaking in Congress. I think people are going to miss him in the long run because he’s a person that is focused on solving problems.”

Bush declined to say whether he thought the move was good our bad for Republicans, saying the party needs to focus on winning the presidency if Republicans want to pass conservative legislation.

“I think what we need is a conservative president that can work with Congress,” he said. “We wouldn’t have these problems if we had a president that actually would commit to passing a budget, would commit to repealing ObamaCare.”

Boehner had a contentious relationship with the right wing of the House GOP, which was mounting a challenge to his leadership position.

The Speaker on Friday announced that he would retire, one day after Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress. The pope’s visit was a crowning achievement for the Catholic congressman, who had been trying to orchestrate the event for over 20 years.