The man best positioned to replace him, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), is solidly within the GOP mainstream and is considered by his colleagues to be ideologically and temperamentally simpatico with the outgoing speaker.
That persona and Boehner's informal blessing bestows McCarthy with a powerful base of support but could leave him ill-equipped to bridge the increasingly sharp differences between establishment Republicans and hard-line conservatives.
"I don't know how anybody's going to do anything different; it's just going to be a new person," said Florida Rep. Thomas Rooney, a deputy whip. "In a few months, we're all going to look back and think: 'Hey, you know what? Maybe it wasn't so easy just saying that we'll replace Boehner.' . . . We're a divided government and we're extremely polarized, and trying to herd all those cats is not an easy thing to do."
Still, conservatives show signs of embracing McCarthy - or at least not repudiating him - and his move up the leadership chain probably would cause a cascading series of departures, creating conservatives' biggest opportunity in years to reshape the leadership in their image. But with relatively small numbers, it's unclear whether hard-liners have the clout to win any of the top-tier slots.
Candidates for his majority leader post include Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington. That in turn would open up races for the No. 3 and No. 4 leadership positions, which could be sought by junior leadership deputies who would vacate their posts.
The group of about three dozen hard-line conservatives who constituted Boehner's most frequent antagonists are eyeing those openings.
"What we don't want to do is simply move the deck chairs around," said Louisiana Rep. John Fleming, a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. "If [the speaker] is someone who is more mainstream, then there needs to be some conservative voices involved in leadership, too."
One challenger to McCarthy from the right emerged late Friday in Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, who ran against Boehner in January, garnering 12 votes. But prominent conservatives suggested that McCarthy may not draw a serious rival and that it's more likely that conservative groups such as the Freedom Caucus and the Republican Study Committee would seek pledges from McCarthy - for instance, to stand firm on spending during budget negotiations - to guarantee their support.
"I don't think that the conservative wing of the party has enough mass to get one of our own elected," said South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a Freedom Caucus member. "We certainly have enough mass to influence the outcome."
The rush to figure out the lines of succession played out on the House floor during a vote held moments after Boehner's announcement. McCarthy worked the Republican half of the chamber, a vertically folded piece of paper in hand. He approached some members, but more often they ran up to him. Each member seeking his audience got his attention.
In the late afternoon Friday, as most members headed to back to their home districts, McCarthy stayed in his suite on the first floor of the Capitol, taking phone call after phone call, while aides monitored the political currents on Twitter and traded reports about the leadership race.
Outside, McCarthy's allies were more actively campaigning. They said it's important for McCarthy to let Boehner have his moment - if only for the weekend - but to be ready next week to begin a campaign for speaker.
Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, a Boehner ally and chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, cast McCarthy as a consensus choice who could heal a broken and bruised House GOP, saying: "We want to come together as a conference. Kevin would be a great speaker and he'd do that."
The speakership would cap a remarkably fast rise for the 50-year-old native of Bakersfield, California. Although that ascent stands as a testament to the support he has built across party factions since he arrived in the House in 2007, it also reflects the increasingly volatile nature of the House Republican caucus.
McCarthy has built relationships with conservatives, not only through his prodigious fundraising and campaigning, but also by appearing at their meetings in recent months and assuring them of a central role in determining the party's agenda. Recent policy overtures include opposing the Export-Import Bank reauthorization after previously supporting it and urging Senate GOP leaders to abandon filibuster rules, a frequent refrain of House conservatives.
Down the leadership ticket, the races are considered more fluid and more contentious. McMorris Rodgers made clear to many of her colleagues Friday that she will run for majority leader, attempting to leapfrog Scalise to become the first woman to hold that post. But Scalise, who gave out baseball bats to allies in his last leadership contest, is known as a tough competitor who has built strategic relationships, often over spreads of Cajun and Italian food in his office suite or at fundraisers. He told deputies Friday night that he intends to seek a promotion.
Two powerful committee chairmen, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia of the Budget Committee and Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling of the Financial Services Committee, also are said to be considering runs.
Both have support among conservatives: Price won acclaim from fiscal hawks for resisting pressure to bust stringent spending limits in next year's House budget proposal, while Hensarling garnered conservative kudos for leading the fight to shut down the Export-Import Bank. But Price narrowly lost a 2012 battle for the GOP conference chairmanship to McMorris Rodgers, and Hensarling does not have the glad-handing personality that most members expect from the leadership.
Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam, a former chief deputy whip, also has indicated that he may seek a position, calling himself "somebody who can bridge the divide" among Republicans. North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry, the current chief deputy whip, is considered likely to seek to a promotion, and Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions told a gathering of fellow Texas Republicans late Friday that he plans to run for whip.
All those contenders will be forced to tackle conservatives' calls for greater ideological consistency and more thorough commitment to fighting President Obama and Democrats.
"There's a constant refrain to unify. The key there is: Unify around what?" said Virginia Rep. Dave Brat, who won his seat last year by running against the GOP leadership and ousting Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Brat made reference to Pope Francis's visit to the Capitol on Thursday and the importance of religious doctrine: "Creeds are important, right? We need to be a little more 'creed-al.' Let the American people understand exactly what it is we believe on paper that we're going to adhere to come hell or high water."
But other Republicans said that conservative influence would be limited. "They've blown themselves up, time and time again, and don't have a plan or the trust of many people in the House," said California Rep. Devin Nunes, a close McCarthy ally. "I don't see them shaping these races in a big way, because many members think they came to this town not to be part of the Republican Party. They get a lot of attention, but they won't be the deciding factor."
Kelsey Snell and Karoun Demirjian contributed to this report.
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