U.S. House Speaker John Boehner will resign and give up his seat in Congress at the end of October, according to his aides. He is currently under intense pressure from conservatives to defund Planned Parenthood as he attempts to keep the government open through the end of the year. Several members of the conservative base vowed not to vote for a bill if it did not defund the organization, and some are on a path to remove him as speaker.

Since becoming speaker in 2011, Boehner has struggled to navigate politically with a polarized Congress and its increasingly conservative Republican members. Boehner’s announcement comes just a day after he had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Capitol. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to serve as the next speaker.