The Speaker of the House Resigns

“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.” —“The Prayer of St. Francis,” read to the Republican Congressional Caucus by Speaker John Boehner after announcing his resignation from Congress.

In a stunning and historic move, coming on the eve of the eclipse on the Aries Point, Ohio Republican John Boehner — Speaker of the House of Representatives — has resigned. His resignation will be effective as of Oct. 30.

If I had a hammer — John Boehner, the ‘tan man’, is now the outgoing Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Throughout his tenure, it appears Speaker Boehner was interested in the novel thought of retaining his power by making the House of Representatives a functional, working body of the federal government. Extreme members of his own party wanted otherwise. They have threatened to close down the government and brought the world economy to the brink while under his leadership.

In August, a minority of 28 conservative members within his own party placed a “Vacate Chair” motion to remove the Speaker from his post on the docket of the House floor for discussion, but it never came up for a vote. Even though Speaker Boehner had a majority of moderate party members on his side — representatives willing to work with Democrats to come up with a deal for votes, he had lost the confidence of the extreme right within his own party. They wanted to shut down the government by not voting on a spending bill without first defunding Planned Parenthood.

In the mid-1990s a government shutdown cost the Republicans dearly at election time during the Clinton Administration. Shutdowns are highly disruptive. The last one, in 2013, closed off government services including national parks, prevented approval of travel visas into and out of the country, and cut off food stamps and federal paychecks. You could see why they’re wildly unpopular among most Americans, and why Boehner did not want it to happen again while under his watch. Not so close to next year’s elections.

This divide between far-right members and party leadership means a civil war is brewing within his own party when a modicum of party unity was needed to keep the Republican “brand” intact during a Presidential election year. This, perhaps with a little Papal push, ultimately led to shortening his stay.

Instead of resigning at the end of 2016 after the elections as originally planned, he will be leaving this year. This leaves a leadership gap that will be interesting to watch these next few days during the eclipse cycle. Especially given the way the Republicans bend rules to make sure they stay in power.

Speaking of which, the Hastert Rule, also known as the “majority of the majority” rule, has been an informal governing principle used by Republican Speakers of the House of Representatives since the mid-1990s. Its aim is to limit the power of the minority party to bring bills up for a vote on the floor of the House. Under the Hastert Rule, the Speaker of the House would not allow a floor vote on a bill unless a majority of the majority party supports the bill. In December 2012 Boehner told his caucus in a conference call, “I’m not interested in passing something with mostly Democrat votes” and that did not have the support of the majority of the Republican caucus.

Yet Speaker Boehner actually did want a Congress that was functioning, despite the behavior of the more extreme factions of his own party. He allowed a vote on the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (also known as the “fiscal cliff bill”) with only 85 out of 241 Republicans in favor (a support level of only 35%), and the bill passed with the support of 90% of Democrats.

He allowed a vote on aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy to take place without the support of a majority of the Republican caucus. Boehner brought a bill extending the Violence Against Women Act for a vote. He brought a bill for vote on federal acquisition of historic sites, and he allowed a floor vote to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling — twice. He allowed a floor vote on a “clean” bill funding the Department of Homeland Security. The man resigned because he wanted to make his branch of government work. But the less sane members of his own party didn’t.

We cast a noon chart for Boehner two ways: one in Koch houses and one in Natural houses, the latter of which puts the ascendant of any chart at 00 Aries. (We have no birth time to determine his exact Ascendant). Off the cuff, in his South Node, there is a Neptune-Pallas conjunction in Libra. The Libra conjunction is a good 12-14 degrees from the eclipse degrees, but still — it’s an interesting image of karma, delusion and political strategy in the sign of justice, isn’t it?

His Scorpio Sun and Mercury show a guy who deals in secrets; secret agendas and secret communication and thinking. And like we don’t already know: he’s an emotional expresser.

Also in his chart, there’s a Pholus-Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn, and Cap’s resonance with political institutions and structures is exemplified in his years of public service and leadership. Jupiter and Pholus are both expansive energies, but in Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, they’re likely restricted.

Isabel Hickey says of Jupiter in Cap that these people are concerned with factual matters and getting ahead in the world; that it is “Necessary to learn giving-out-ness for there is a tendency to be miserly with the expression of loving feelings, as well as with money and with material possessions.”

Perhaps too, some Capricorn common sense in the midst of political extremism made him a man out of time with his current, less stable, polarized compatriots. If I were in his position, I would have left, too.

So was his decision a sudden change of heart or a defining conclusion to a decision made long before? There is probably a little of both involved. The news reports suggest that the process leading up to his resignation was under way as early as 2013. This is backed up if we cast a progressed version of his noon birth chart for the date and time of his resignation announcement. That chart shows that his Sun and Mercury have changed sign, and the half-return of his lunar nodes.

However, the eclipse and transiting Mercury are suggestive of the actual decision being sudden. The involvement of Neptune and Vesta imply the spirituality concerned in this matter.

Astrologically, he was already working up to resigning — but the Pope’s visit was like a “road to Damascus” moment. The Pope must have touched a lot of the right strings. Without that he might have delayed the decision indefinitely. The direction of the Republican party has long chafed against his better nature.

Regardless of his birth time, his natal Moon will is in Libra and close to Neptune — that signifies a lot. His natal Moon ruler is Venus — currently being transited for the umpteenth time in the past 5 years or so by Pluto. This man has been undergoing some big changes.

We look forward to comments on the blog. See you there!

(Special thanks to Amanda Painter and Amy Elliot for their astrological contributions to this article! — FB)

This entry was posted in Update on by .

About Fe Bongolan

Planet Waves writer Fe Bongolan lives in Oakland, California. Her column, "Fe-911," has been featured on Planet Waves since 2008. As an actor and dramaturge, Fe is a core member of Cultural Odyssey's "The Medea Project -- Theater for Incarcerated Women," producing work that empowers the voices of all women in trouble, from ex-offenders, women with HIV-AIDS, to young girls and women at risk. A Planet Waves fan from almost the beginning of Eric's astrology career, Fe is a public sector employee who describes herself as a "mystical public servant." When it comes to art, culture and politics, she loves reading between the lines.

8 thoughts on “The Speaker of the House Resigns

  1. Sara Victoria

    Wow, he read the Prayer of St Francis before resigning? The eclipse exactly squares his Uranus in Cancer – triggering the urge for freedom (Uranus) to withdraw (Cancer) … It’s clear he was genuinely moved by his experience w/Francis – he actually used the words ‘The Golden Rule’ in the press conference I caught … and while the question of a successor is a major concern, perhaps his sentiment will stick long enough to inspire within him some impulse to influence some GOPs who are still among the un-dead…

  2. Fe Bongolan Post author

    From Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi:

    Public awareness is the strongest, strongest opportunity we have for keeping government open. […] Shutting down government is drastic. In our caucus this morning, we had read to us by our ranking member Nita Lowey all the things that will happen if they shut down government—who are affected in terms of our veterans, who are affected in terms of children and nutrition. It is a stunning array. One of the things that people have said is, if we only let government shut down for one day but really did not mitigate for the damage, then the American people would really know how bad this is. […]

    “[When the 2013 shutdown came] we lost at that time 25 billion dollars in our economy, it curtailed the growth of our GDP, it put people out of work—at least 30 percent of the federal workforce are veterans—are veterans—and we all profess to worship at the shrine of our veterans. And yet, they will very casually shut down government, having various degrees of impact on our federal workers.

    “This all comes down to the fact that the Republicans in Congress, if you take some of the issues we talked about, are anti-governance—not government. […] The degree of government has been the debate in our country for a couple hundred years. How much government? How much federal, how much local and state? So that’s a legitimate place of where you are on the spectrum. But anti-governance—shut it down and celebrate—that is unacceptable. And President Washington, as he was leaving office, cautioned against political parties of which were at war with their own government. And that’s really what we’re seeing evidence of now—a political party at war with its own government.”

  3. Sara Victoria

    I have heard it said (for many years, now, though it’s hitting a threshold velocity) that as the frequency accelerates in our world, as the vibration raises and the density lessens, all that which can only exist within the density created by fear will be activated as it moves out, and we will see it and need to deal with it. A collective detox on every level. ( Love ‘Republicans Create Job’ ) ….

  4. Barbara Koehler

    Thank you Fe (and Amanda and Amy) for writing this piece on the Tan Man’s resignation. The element of surprise it carried would suggest Uranus, so perhaps his natal Moon might be at 19+ Libra and opposite the transiting retrograde Uranus at 19+ Aries. If so, then emotions would be the deciding factor, and his emotions have had quite a workout this week. Uranus first reached 19 Aries in late May so something might have started the ball rolling then.

    My choice for main motivator would be Pluto. Did you notice that his natal Venus at 12+ Capricorn squares his natal nodes (north at 14+ Aries, south at 14+ Libra)? Today transiting Pluto stationed direct at 12+ Capricorn, conjunct his Venus. Trans. Pluto got as far as 15+ Capricorn before stationing retrograde in April, passing over his nodes in a square in Dec-Jan and again in retro in June and July.

    But it could have all started when transiting Uranus in Aries first made a square to his Venus in Capricorn in June, 2013. At that time trans. Pluto had stopped short of conjuncting Boehner’s Venus, stationing retrograde at 11+ Capricorn. Even so, the wolves were at the door with the Uranus-Pluto squares series, the 3rd out of 7 in late May, 2013. Uranus though, stationing retrograde at 12+ Aries, honed in on his Capricorn Venus for all of July 2013 and most of August too.

    But it was Pluto conjunct his Venus in January and February, 2014, while Venus stationed direct at 13+ Capricorn, 1 degree from his natal Venus and trans. Pluto that cinched it. This happening while trans. Pluto and Venus (and John’s Venus) opposed trans. Jupiter retrograde at 12+ Cancer, and the transiting nodes were about to change signs (from Scorpio-Taurus to Libra-Aries), was when the choice became clear…should-I-stay-or-should-I-go…for John.

    Finally, the transiting nodes reached 14 Libra-Aries, in reverse of John’s natal nodes at 14 Aries-Libra this past January. It was time for John’s indecisive natal south node Libra-conjunct-natal-Neptune-conjunct-natal-Moon to let it go. Maybe that’s when he heard from the Pope accepting his invitation to Washington DC? Maybe. Something made him hold on until today.

    But, late last night and early this AM, trans. Pluto was stationing direct on John’s Venus and you just can’t say no to Pluto, especially when he is stationing. The Lord sent the Pope to visit John and make that clear. It ain’t easy being green or being the Tan Man either, but evolution doesn’t deal in personalities, does it? Maybe there’s a little karma in there somewhere too, we may never know for sure.
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