By the end of next month, House Speaker John Boehner will be gone from the hallowed congressional halls, the Ohio Republican announced in a news conference on Friday. His decision came as a huge surprise to those on the Hill who had expected him to announce his resignation at the end of the year. Boehner has insisted officially that his resignation was based on a desire to avoid turmoil within the GOP leadership, although at least a handful of analysts and congressional members have argued that the extreme right wing had destroyed the Republican Party with its refusal to seek out compromise.

[…] The sudden announcement has made waves with those who now see the advancing right wing of the GOP as a major threat to any remaining balance left on the Hill. Both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid voiced those frustrations on Friday, with the former calling the move a “stark indication of the disarray of the House Republicans,” and a “hijacking” of the traditional Republican Party. Reid tweeted that with Boehner’s retirement, “the party of Eisenhower and Reagan” was “no more.”

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Image: Bryant Avondoglio; Speaker Boehner/Flickr