House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) will not join Vice President Joe Biden on a trip to the Vatican next week. Obama invited Boehner to join Biden after a meeting with congressional Republicans Wednesday, Boehner’s office said. Boehner said in a statement Thursday:
“I am grateful for the invitation to attend the papal investiture in Rome with Vice President Biden, and would like to be able to join the trip. Unfortunately, my duties in the House next week – including hosting President Obama and the Prime Minister of Ireland at the Capitol on Tuesday, and the debate on the budget – make that impossible. I wish the Vice President all the best in his journey, and hope he communicates the prayers and warm regards of every American, especially Catholics, to the first pope from the Americas.”
