House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) shocked the nation when he abruptly resigned from Congress on Friday. He said resigning has been on his mind for a while, but after praying with the Pope on Thursday, he felt the time was right to resign.

Next week, the government is facing another possible shutdown due to lack of funding. Although he will leave his seat at the end of October, his resignation could possibly prevent a government shutdown. He said the House will vote on a spending bill next week that will fund the government through mid-December.

However, Boehner was struggling to get fellow Republicans to work with him to keep the government from shutting down.

Speculation is the real reason Boehner resigned was because he was losing control of his own party and leaving before he was voted out would save him the embarrassment.

At the end of October, an already unpredictable House of Representatives will have a new leader who will have to try to find the tricky balance between what is right for his or her party and what is right for the country. Boehner’s likely successor, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-OH), will have a big job in store for him.

Boehner arguably had one of the hardest jobs in Congress, but we believe he should have waited until the end of his term to retire.  

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of The Kent Stater editorial board, whose names are listed above.