John Boehner thinks retirement feels “weird,” Politico reports. He’s traded being Speaker of the House for being vacuumer of his apartment.
The former Speaker of the House had been in the political scene for 34 years when he finally stepped down from the position on October 31, with Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan taking his place. In his first public speech since then, Boehner told a crowd at the Naples Beach Hotel in Florida that his new life is hard because he is “used to going all the time. Then you’re not going all the time.”
“I haven’t lived anywhere in 20 years except in hotel rooms,” Boehner said. “You spend 200 nights a year traveling around the country, I don’t know, where do you live? I haven’t driven a car for nine years. I did a couple of weeks ago. I have a valid driver’s license. I was very careful. But, you know, I need a car. So do I get a car in Ohio? Do I get a car here? Do I get a car in D.C.? I don’t know. Much less try to figure out what I’m actually going to do.”
He has time to do “lots of laundry,” iron, and vacuum all of the floors he never got around to vacuuming before. “My apartment looks like it’s brand new.”
Boehner teared up a few times when reminiscing about his favorite Speaker moments, including meeting Pope Francis, according to the Naples Daily News. He is dividing his time between his condo on Marco Island, Florida; his Cincinnati home; and Washington, D.C.
Boehner has “no job, no office, hardly any staff.” But he has some staff. He recently hired Squire Patton Boggs partner Dave Schnittger to handle media, and he has two more staffers covering political matters and keeping track of his appointments, Politico reports. There’s also likely a book deal in the works and lots of paid speechifying.
