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US Speaker Boehner to leave Congress US Speaker Boehner to leave Congress
(35 minutes later)
Speaker of the US House John Boehner will resign from his leadership position and give up his seat at the end of October.Speaker of the US House John Boehner will resign from his leadership position and give up his seat at the end of October.
Mr Boehner has been under pressure from the conservative wing of his party, and in particular over government funding for Planned Parenthood.Mr Boehner has been under pressure from the conservative wing of his party, and in particular over government funding for Planned Parenthood.
Aides say the speaker had planned to resign last year.Aides say the speaker had planned to resign last year.
The announcement comes one day after the speaker hosted Pope Francis for a major address to the US Congress.The announcement comes one day after the speaker hosted Pope Francis for a major address to the US Congress.
The BBC's Anthony Zurcher says Mr Boehner has been walking a knife's edge for years, trying to balance the business of Congress with a grass-roots conservative faction in his caucus that demanded confrontation and saw compromise as weakness. Mr Boehner is expected to make a public announcement at 10:30 local time (15:30 BST).
Mr Boehner is expected to make a public announcement at 10:00 local time (15:00 BST). He assumed the leadership position in January 2011, when Republicans took control of the House.
Rep Bill Huizenga said in a tweet that the speaker made the announcement to his conference this morning. Analysis - Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter
In a statement, Mr Boehner's staff said that he had intended to resign at the end of last year, but the surprise defeat of then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor "changed that calculation". Mr Boehner becomes the first casualty in this new anti-establishment wave in the Republican Party.
The challenge of managing the day-to-day operations of the House of Representatives while satisfying an increasingly unruly - and growing - faction of hardcore conservative backbenchers has finally brought him down.
There once was a time when a speaker could bend the House of Representatives to his will by offering rewards and meting out punishment for transgressions.
Those days are long gone, as members of Congress now answer to outside constituencies and interests.
The speaker's resignation comes as Republicans have been deliberating over plans to defund women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.The speaker's resignation comes as Republicans have been deliberating over plans to defund women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.
The organisation has come under fire from anti-abortion activists who claimed its employees were selling foetal organs.The organisation has come under fire from anti-abortion activists who claimed its employees were selling foetal organs.
Hardline conservatives have urged the leadership to stall a government funding bill - a move that could see the US government shut down next week for the second time in as many years - if language defunding the healthcare provider is not included.
Reuters is reporting that Rep Steve King has told reporters that Rep Kevin McCarthy is top pick to replace Mr Boehner as speaker.
Rep Bill Huizenga said in a tweet that the speaker made the announcement to his conference this morning.
In a statement, Mr Boehner's staff said that he had intended to resign at the end of last year, but the surprise defeat of then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor "changed that calculation".
On Thursday, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address a joint session of Congress following an invitation from the Catholic House speaker.