(NaturalNews) Early Friday, a very unexpected thing happened in Washington, D.C.: A sitting House speaker, the third person in line for the Oval Office, suddenly announced that he was leaving Congress at the end of next month.

For conservatives, the exit of Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is welcome news. With a "rating" well below that of most rank-and-file Republicans in the GOP-controlled House, he was seen as one of the biggest reasons why the party's base has long been frustrated by his leadership, and the biggest impediment to pressing a conservative political agenda.

But the pressing question is why? Why would the third-most powerful man in government, behind the president and vice president, up and quit? It's a question that has been swirling ever since Boehner made his surprise announcement. But one possible explanation is that the 13-term congressman and speaker has been threatened or compromised – or both – by the regime in power.

What really happened?

Yes, we know. That sounds like a huge conspiracy theory. But consider what Boehner has done during his tenure – and what he's about to do before he leaves office on Oct. 30.

To wit:

-- Boehner – and to an equal extent, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. – has been instrumental in ensuring that President Obama's left-wing "fundamental transformation" agenda has been implemented or, at a bare minimum, at least not opposed.

-- Time and again, the Speaker has warred with core conservatives in the House, many of whom were elected on promises of directly opposing Obama's agenda (like Obamacare, climate change regulations and the president's unconstitutional actions regarding immigration). They have warred because Boehner has often refused to back measures that would have directly challenged the president's initiatives, and when he did – such as holding several votes to defund Obamacare – he only did so when he knew that the legislation would never pass the Senate, which was controlled by Democrats until the 2014 midterm elections.

-- Boehner had also developed a habit of actually punishing members of his own party if they failed to back his priorities or if they challenged his speakership, as many did earlier this year.

And now that he's "decided" to leave? Boehner (pronounced "BAY-ner") plans to do his best Democrat impression and help Obama some more.

As reported by Ben Shapiro at Breitbart:

As a final parting gift, like a man leaving a lingering fart on a crowded elevator, Boehner will now sign onto a budget deal that would forestall a possible government shutdown over defunding of Planned Parenthood.

Obama's long history of dirty tricks

Shapiro says that a new challenge to Boehner's leadership that has been brewing since summer had gained enough momentum that the Speaker figuratively put a wet finger in the political wind and estimated that he would not be able to retain his post without Democrat support. But given the fickle nature of Washington's political class, where "loyalty" is bought and paid for by the corporate and lobbying classes in the booths of a hotel lobby bar, fear of losing a position doesn't fully explain Boehner's conservative treason.

Politico opined that Boehner's pre-exit, pro-Obama agenda is due in large part because his decision to leave means he doesn't have to deal with those pesky, stupid conservatives in his own party – and that might be believable were it not for the fact that Boehner was already ignoring the conservatives in his party, and on a regular basis (hence the unrest in the ranks).

There is also this: Obama is a long-time dirty trickster and has never shied away from using what he can against political opponents. They include Republican businessman Jack Ryan, whose divorce records were mysteriously unsealed during his race against Obama for an open U.S. Senate seat in Illinois; U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey who was suddenly brought up on corruption charges by the Justice Department after he became a top opponent of Obama's outreach to Cuba and the nuclear accord with Iran; and Hillary Clinton, who has been fending off an investigation by the FBI into her use of a private email server – something that simply could not and would not happen without Obama's explicit approval (and who leaked the story in the first place?).

It may be weeks or months before we find out what really motivated Boehner to quit. We may never know. But it's highly unlikely that it had much to do with anything purely political.

Be sure to check out WhiteHouse.news for more breaking news and information about the government under the Obama Administration.

Sources:

ConservativeReview.com

WashingtonExaminer.com

Breitbart.com

Politico.com

Breitbart.com