Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is seeking unity in a place it’s rarely found, telling House Republicans he will serve as their speaker – but only if they embrace him by week’s end as their consensus candidate.
It’s a big “if” for a House GOP that’s careened from one crisis to another in recent years, with Tea Party members insisting on a partial government shutdown two years ago, ultimately driving out the current House speaker, and scaring off his No. 2.
That left Ryan, the GOP’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, to announced late Tuesday that he would seek the speakership… but only with conditions. He wants the endorsement of the major caucuses of the House, including the Tea Party aligned Freedom Caucus.
That’s the group whose threats against Speaker John Boehner pushed him to announce he would resign by month’s end and forced Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to abruptly drop his campaign to replace him.
Coming days will tell if Ryan can win their support or become their latest victim. And if Ryan can’t lock up enough House support, there may not be another obvious candidate who can.
“I came to the conclusion that this is a very dire moment, not just for Congress, not just for the Republican Party, but for our country. And I think our country is in desperate need of leadership,” Ryan said.
“What I told members is if you can agree to these requests and if I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve, and if I am not unifying, that is fine as well — I will be happy to stay where I am.”
The 45-year-old Ryan gave his colleagues until Friday to express their support. Members of the Freedom Caucus quickly made clear they remained to be convinced.
“I think he has to campaign for it. We’ve heard one speech,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa. “We’re willing to listen but it’s the beginning of the conversation as far as I’m concerned.”
“I think there are other candidates in this race, and I want to hear what they have to say,” said another Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado.
The other candidates, nearly a dozen, all lack Ryan’s stature and broad support and it’s not clear if any of them could gather the needed backing to become speaker.
Ryan had avoided getting drawn into the speaker’s contest, saying he would prefer to stay on as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, which he’s described as his dream job.
But with chaos ahead and the prospect of even more of it if he passed on the job, Ryan reconsidered under pressure from party leaders. Congress is hurtling toward an early November deadline to raise the federal borrowing limit or invite a first-ever default, and a deadline to pass spending legislation or risk a government shutdown will follow in early December.
Ryan laid out a number of conditions under which he would serve, aimed at defusing an atmosphere of constant chaos and crisis that has hung over the House as Tea Party-backed lawmakers pushed for confrontation with the White House and demanded changes that the strictures of divided government never could deliver.
He said he encourages changes to rules and procedures — something eagerly sought by members of the Freedom Caucus who claim they’ve been shut out of legislating in the House. But he said any such changes must be made as a team, with input from all. Ryan also sought a change in the process for a “motion to vacate the chair” — the procedure conservatives were threatening against Boehner, which would have resulted in a floor vote on his speakership and ultimately drove him to resign.
Ryan himself told lawmakers in the meeting that in the wake of Boehner and McCarthy, “I won’t be the third log on the bonfire.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article
If GOP makes Ryan Speaker I will vote Third Party and promote secession for my State.
I agree! I hope that the Members of the House, the Tea Party and the new candidates for President SEE that we don’t want PAUL RINO!
Ryan should go too! out of the country, he’s a traitor, a jerk, and a total loser. He want’s to balance the budget on the backs of seniors (destroying social security and medicare) and the working middle class. Whomever likes him is an idiot! Put him on a boat along with Paul Walker and all the other privatizing, union busting, anti-American freeloaders and ship them out!
He also wants to change policy to not being able to fire Speaker of the House.
For amnesty.
I would like to see Rep.Webster get the job.Pound sand Ryan,you are to progressive
Yep
There’s something to be said for getting things accomplished. I would like to see a variety of conservative issues enacted. The reality is many of those issues lack the support needed to ever have a chance of becoming law, at least while Obama is president. With that realization in mind, House conservatives should look at gradually implementing the items on their agenda.
The problem with all or nothing is you often wind up with nothing. This congress has less than 15 months left. Conservatives should agree to support Speaker Ryan. If it doesn’t work out, they can make a change when the next congress begins in January 2017.
ryan: You are a nobody, go crawl back under your rock.Who the hell do you think you are?
This bunch of betrayers of Republican ideals are just showing their true cowardly RINO pedigree. No wonder true Americans are despondent & heartsick over the current state of our Constitutional Republic when the putative “good guys” turn out to be even worse than the bad guys owing to their chicken-hearted, self-interested, turncoat betrayals.
Lets be blunt: piss on Ryan, he does NOT make ultimatums. he works for us, And Tea Party, remind him very pointedly about that. Paul Ryan is not the only answer, there are others who can serve in the role of speaker. I want someone who will represent the people and not himself. Paul Ryan needs to get over his self importance.
I add an AMEN to that Rodney.
Daniel Webster. Paul Ryan has already sold out.
If you don’t want to be the Third Log out of the fire: Don’t get in the FIRE! You’ll be ashes.
Nobody would infinitely raise the I.Q. of the Speaker’s position by 20 points over Bone Head so WIN-WIN!!!!
I think that the tea party should abandon this failure that is the Republican Party and start a tru 3rd party movement. Anything less will demonstrate that you don’t have the courage of your rhetoric.
It’s true, we are big enough to start a 3rd party. The Tea Party would be a good name.
I call Ryan, “lyin”, Ryan”. Lying is the only thing he does well. Seems everything that comes out of his mouth is a bare faced lie. I think he learned that
trick from ganging around Mitt Romney too much in 2012, and it went on from there