--- title: The Shutdown and John Boehner's Moment in History | TIME description: While the government shutdown is a headache for the American public, it can make or break political careers. For Speaker of the House John Boehner, the stalemate in Washington is his moment in history. canonical: https://time.com/video/srhZGv49/ og:title: The Shutdown and John Boehner's Moment in History og:description: While the government shutdown is a headache for the American public, it can make or break political careers. For Speaker of the House John Boehner, the stalemate in Washington is his moment in history. og:url: https://time.com/video/srhZGv49/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/srhZGv49/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Shutdown and John Boehner's Moment in History twitter:description: While the government shutdown is a headache for the American public, it can make or break political careers. For Speaker of the House John Boehner, the stalemate in Washington is his moment in history. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/srhZGv49/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The Shutdown and John Boehner's Moment in History > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Shutdown and John Boehner's Moment in History [Watch (HLS stream): The Shutdown and John Boehner's Moment in History](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/srhZGv49.m3u8) (2:12)  _Published 2013-10-14. While the government shutdown is a headache for the American public, it can make or break political careers. For Speaker of the House John Boehner, the stalemate in Washington is his moment in history._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:51 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [John Boehner's Republican Address](/video/XRA4uDSM/) ### John Boehner's Republican Address [Speaker John Boehner Is Resigning From Congress](/video/zf8KdhAR/) ### Speaker John Boehner Is Resigning From Congress [Michael Grunwald on Speaker John Boehner](/video/G6Vi6zhR/) ### Michael Grunwald on Speaker John Boehner --- ## Transcript This isn't some damn game. The American people don't want their government shut down, and neither do I. With the budget showdown continuing in Washington, this is really a pivotal moment for Boehner. I mean it's not really just a budget showdown that's happening, but really this is his moment. What happens here could entirely decide the rest of his career, but also the sort of, the power balance in, in, in Washington. John Boehner's had a long career from a relatively centrus state, Ohio. He was a member of a kind of an upstart group that was trying to impose some new ethical standards on leadership. He was kind of a rebel. He has risen to one of the most powerful positions in America. It is arguably as powerful as the president, speaker of the House of Representatives. In that job, however, he has faced a very fragmented conference of Republicans. If he does something that is ideologically anathema to a group like the Tea Party, he could perfectly well find himself out of a job. Obviously there are a lot of critics of Boehner. I think he's proven himself over the last few years as a very talented deal maker and this is an impossible job for anyone, really. Look, you think Obamacare is a big enough threat to this country that you need to shut down the government over it? Fine, own it. Don't fart and point at the dog. [ LAUGH ] Assuming he can maintain control and stay in charge, he is then going to face an even greater challenge. Boehner faces the prospect of either letting the government fail to pay its bills, or passing a bill to raise the debt limit. So he has to somehow find his way out of that conundrum, which is potentially even more dangerous for him and the country than the shutdown crisis has been. We are not going to pass a clean debt limit increase. Under no circumstances? I told the president, there's no way we're gonna pass, when the votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit. 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