House Speaker John Boehner to resign

            John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who steered his party to an overwhelming House majority in 2010, told colleagues Friday he's stepping down as Speaker and will leave Congress at the end of October.

The abrupt decision comes after he faced heavy pressure from conservatives to take a harder line on their causes, most recently over defunding Planned Parenthood.

Boehner, who has presided over the House since 2011, explained during a closed-door meeting with Republicans Friday morning that he had only planned to serve two terms as speaker but decided to hold onto his post after then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his seat during a primary last year, a Republican lawmaker in the room told CNN.

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Lawmakers file 'Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act'

Tennessee lawmakers promised some sort of legislative response after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal for every state in the country.

On Thursday two state Republican lawmakers unveiled their answer: a bill that they believe voids the Supreme Court decision and continues to define marriage under Tennessee law as a union between a man and a woman.

"Natural marriage between one (1) man and one (1) woman as recognized by the people of

Tennessee remains the law in Tennessee, regardless of any court decision to the contrary," the bill

states.

"Any court decision purporting to strike down natural marriage, including (a recent U.S. Supreme

Court decision), is unauthoritative, void, and of no effect."

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FactCheck.org: Republican Debate #2

Th:e Republican presidential candidates met for their second debate on Sept. 16, this one hosted by CNN at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Csalifornia. We found they strayed from the facts on numerous issues, including

§  Donald Trump told a story linking vaccination to autism, but there’s no evidence that recommended vaccines cause autism. And Sen. Rand Paul suggested that it would be safer to spread out recommended vaccines, but there’s no evidence of that, either.

§  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Trump donated to his gubernatorial campaign to get him to change his mind on casino gambling in Florida. But Trump denied he ever wanted to bring casino gambling to the state. A former lobbyist says he did.

§  Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said that Hillary Clinton was “under investigation by the FBI” because she “destroyed government records.” Not true. She had the authority to delete personal emails.

§  Trump said that “illegal immigration” cost “more than $200 billion a year.” We couldn’t find any support for that. Actually, it could cost taxpayers $137 billion or more to deport the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally, as Trump proposes.

§  Trump again wrongly said that Mexico doesn’t have a birthright citizenship policy like the United States. It does.

§  Carly Fiorina said that the Planned Parenthood videos released by an anti-abortion group showed “a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” But that scene isn’t in any of the videos.

§  Fiorina repeated familiar boasts about her time at Hewlett-Packard, saying the size of the company “doubled,” without mentioning that was due to a merger with Compaq, and she cherry-picked other statistics.

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Republican debate: Fact-checking the candidates

Washington (CNN)The CNN Fact-Checking Team worked through both Republican debates Wednesday night, comparing notable, surprising or otherwise interesting claims from the candidates against the facts.

The team, comprised of researchers, editors and reporters across CNN, picked the juiciest statements, analyzed them, consulted issue experts and then rated them either: True; Mostly True; True, but Misleading; False; or It's Complicated.

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What you need to know about Hillary Clinton’s e-mails

What happened

Hillary Clinton used a private e-mail server to carry out State Department business while she was Secretary of State. Some of her correspondence was between non-government e-mail addresses.

Records not under government control

Why it matters

Used private e-mail server

Records not involving government e-mail addresses were not under government control, raising issues concerning security and the State Department’s ability to follow open records laws.

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The Shutdown Congress, And Why The GOP Can't Help Itself

The U.S. government shut down for 16 days in 2013 because some Republicans wanted to "defund" Obamacare. The shutdown hurt the economy and polls showed Americans blamed the GOP.

Several Republican lawmakers said it was a mistake.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have both vowed there will be no more shutting down of the government. On Friday, McConnell called it "an exercise in futility." Last month, he summed up the folly by saying"there's no education in the second kick of a mule."

Nevertheless, a sizable contingent in their party appears ready for a remedial encounter with the hooves. The government will run out of money at the end of September, and while congressional leaders have yet to offer a plan to keep the lights on, some Republicans have already seized on the notion of linking that vital spending to a bill defunding Planned Parenthood -- a move that would guarantee deadlock.

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Kim Davis released, but judge bars her from withholding marriage licenses

Kim Davis broke down in tears, then beamed as she stood before a cheering crowd after her release from jail Tuesday.

The Kentucky clerk, who was held in contempt of court for refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses, urged her supporters not to give in.

"Thank you all so much. I love you all so very much," she said. "I just want to give God the glory. His people have rallied, and you are a strong people. We serve a living God who knows exactly where each and every one of us is at. Just keep on pressing. Don't let down, because he is here. He's worthy."

Davis, who said issuing the licenses would violate her conscience and go against her religion, plans to return to work in Rowan County, Kentucky, this week and won't resign from her post, attorney Mat Staver said. Asked by a reporter whether her stay in jail was worth it, Davis smiled and nodded.

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Rick Perry drops out of presidential race

Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who insisted he learned lessons from his disastrous 2012 presidential campaign, dropped his second bid for the White House on Friday after just 100 days.

"Today, I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States," Perry said in an address in St. Louis that virtually mirrored his standard stump speech until the very end. "Life is good. I am a blessed man."

The departure of Perry, who had little support in early-voting states or among the GOP donor class, is unlikely to alter the contours of the Republican race. But Perry nevertheless implored his supporters in an email to back a candidate who embodies the principles of conservatism.

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