On October 30th, 2014 John Boehner formally resigned as Speaker of the House, being replaced by Congressman Paul Ryan.

Boehner announced his intent of resignation immediately after Pope Francis’s address to Congress this September. It was a moment that staunchly Catholic John Boehner cherished. Boehner cited the growing conflict between himself and the House Freedom Caucus, a group of 40 Tea Party Republican Congressmen, as a major reason for his resignation. In fact, the Freedom Caucus threatened to shutdown the government and replace Boehner as Speaker if he did not defund Planned Parenthood in the new fiscal year. Boehner was able to push through a deal extending the current budget into December in exchange for his resignation. Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader and second in command to Speaker Boehner, was originally the favorite to become next speaker, however he dropped out of the Speaker race after the House Freedom Caucus endorsed Congressman Daniel Webster instead of McCarthy due to McCarthy’s ties with Boehner.

Although Congressman Paul Ryan had previously endorsed McCarthy as Speaker of the House, McCarthy’s withdrawal from the race has many Republicans turning to Ryan as a potential candidate. Ryan, who achieved fame after running for Vice President alongside Mitt Romney in 2012, is popular with both establishment Republicans and the more fringe Freedom Caucus. Interestingly enough, Ryan had stated earlier in the election that he did not plan to run, but after McCarthy resigned Ryan reconsidered and announced that he would run for Speaker of the House. Although nine Republicans voted for Daniel Webster instead of Ryan, Ryan secured a large enough majority to be elected Speaker of the House. Ryan has had some early success within his first week, passing a bipartisan highway bill for instance. Despite this however the future of Ryan and the Republican party in Congress remains uncertain. The Freedom Caucus has already forced Boehner, a seasoned politician who had been in Congress for 25 years, out of office and it is very possible that they may try the same with Ryan, considering he is much younger and less experienced than Boehner.

Paul Ryan’s first real test as Speaker of the House is approaching fast. As Congress passes a temporary budget to prevent shutdown, that is set to expire on December 11th, the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood also remains unresolved. The Freedom Caucus has stated that it will not support any budget that funds Planned Parenthood, and President Obama has pledged to veto any budget that does not fully fund Planned Parenthood. If Speaker Ryan cannot secure a budget acceptable to both the President and Freedom Caucus the government may shutdown, and he may be removed as Speaker less than two months in office.