Gingrich: Boehner ‘just got worn out’

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) suggested Friday that current Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is resigning over weariness with his conference.

Gingrich added that Boehner’s battles with other Republicans are likely the impetus for his departure from public service next month.

“I expect that what happened with John Boehner is that he just got worn out by the constant attacks and the constant complications and the sense that it was unmanageable,” he said on Fox News.

“What happens is that part of your party has demands that are unreachable,” Gingrich said. “They view your failure to reach them as a sign that they need someone new who will somehow magically reach them.”

“In both our cases, a bloc grew up that basically said, ‘We want someone who will do exactly what we want,’” Gingrich added, comparing Boehner’s speakership tenure with his own, from 1995 to 1999.

Gingrich argued on Friday that the conservative wing of the Republican caucus should exercise caution in how it proceeds.

“The fact is that 20 or 30 or 40 people is not a majority,” he said.  “It may be a big enough bloc to cause a lot of trouble, but it is not a majority.”

“It’s very hard to put together a majority, and it’s very hard to govern with a majority,” the unsuccessful 2012 GOP presidential candidate said.

Gingrich also said that Pope Francis’s historic visit to Washington earlier this week might have something to do with the timing of Boehner’s departure.

“John’s a very devout Catholic, and this is something that he always wanted to see happen,” he said, referencing Francis’s address before a joint session of Congress on Thursday morning.

“Yesterday in many ways is the high point of his Speakership,” Gingrich said of Boehner.  “In that sense, it kind of makes sense to say, ‘I’ll go out with something I treasure the rest of my life.’ ”

Boehner shocked lawmakers on Friday by announcing he is giving up the Speaker’s gavel and his House seat on Oct. 30.

He cast the decision as a bid to save the House from Republican vs. Republican rancor.

“The first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution that we all love,” Boehner said.  “It was my plan to only serve as Speaker until the end of last year, but I stayed on provide continuity to the Republican Conference and the House.”

“It is my view, however, that prolonged leadership turmoil would irreparable damage to this institution,” he added.  “To that end, I will resign the Speakership and my seat in Congress on Oct. 30.”

Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Friday each ruled out making a bid to replace Boehner.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has emerged as the most likely successor given his relationship with both establishment and conservative Republicans.