The move comes in response to growing antipathy from the conservative faction of the House Republican caucus, which demanded a new vote, plebiscite style, on Boehner as speaker.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has announced that he will retire from Congress this year, halfway through his third term in that position. The move comes in response to growing antipathy from the conservative faction of the House Republican caucus, which demanded a new vote, plebiscite style, on Boehner as speaker. Some in that group mounted a campaign to oppose him in that role at the beginning of the 114th Congress in January, but the effort was disordered to the point that conservatives didn't even field an alternative candidate. Instead, 25 Republicans v...