The Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio), has announced his resignation after being in the position since November of 2010. He was unanimously elected to the position.

Throughout his term as Speaker, Boehner has been criticized. He was widely criticized for how he handled Obamacare after refusing to pass a bill funding the program resulting in a government shutdown for 16 days because he wanted to stop what he called the, “threat of Obamacare.”

Even other Grand Old Party members have been critical of how Boehner does things, “I’m cautiously optimistic that this will be a transformative moment within the House that will help revive an institution plagued by dysfunction,” said congressmen Mark Meadows (R-NC). Meadows is referring to dysfunction in the sense that Boehner has led the least productive House in history. According to the Pew Research center the 112th and 113th congresses were the least productive back to back. The 112th was the least overall productive, passing just 561 bills. According to Boehner, “[W]e should not be judged on how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal. We’ve got more laws than the administration could ever enforce,” said Boehner in a CBS interview.

Many people expected representative Kevin McCarthy of California to replace Boehner. Recently McCarthy promised that his house would not be like Boehners. “I think McCarthy’s pitch was ‘I’m not John Boehner, I’m going to run things differently, I’m my own man, and I think that’s a case that he does have to make. One of the things I hear all the time from my constituents back in Texas is we don’t want John Boehner 2.0.” said Representative Blake Farenthold, a Republican from Texas, in a U.S News interview. However, McCarthy has recently dropped out of contention because he feared he would have the same issues as Boehner. Despite this coming out Boehner has stated that he will stay in his position until a replacement is found.

Now Representative Daniel Webster (R-FL) has announced his campaign to become the next speaker. Representative Jason Chaffetz(R-UT), an admitted underdog has also announced his plan to run for the position.

Other representatives, such as Paul Ryan(R-WI), have been suggested by some republicans but had seemed slightly disinterested.

Junior Shefali Vaid hopes that a change in command means congress can finally get things done, “Maybe someone better will be the new Speaker and take action on serious matters,” Said Vaid. Serious matters include the pressing issue of  gun control in light of school shootings in Oregon and Arizona.

The new Speaker will certainly have challenges in the House along with other legislation. The new Speaker will have to mend house republicans after they split due to Boehner being “too liberal” according to some Representatives, and citizens.

“I think students should know what’s going on in their country’s government but I think most don’t realize this is relevant to them,” said Vaid. For students born before November of 1998 it is important to pay attention as they will be eligible to vote in the next Presidential election.

UPDATE: Since the original writing of the story Republican representative Paul Ryan has agreed to run for Speaker of the House, under certain conditions. Ryan is adamant on doing this his way. He wants to still dedicate time to his family, do less fundraising, and increase communication. He will also look to reform rules to make it work smoother. At this point Ryan has the full backing of the House Freedom Caucus, the largest caucus currently in the House.