The prospect of Ryan as speaker arose after a rollicking two weeks on Capitol Hill, in which Boehner announced his resignation and his heir apparent, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, abruptly withdrew his candidacy.
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“We’ve proven that a speaker can be removed”, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin, who is not a member of the House but is in contact with the conservative bloc, told the Herald.
For now, Ryan is caught in the middle of a stalemate for the House GOP conference as its conservative and moderate wings try to find one person who they can all see leading them into 2016 and beyond – a person who could wind up being Ryan. However, it was apparent that the California Republican lacked the support of the 218 members necessary to guarantee his election by the full House, which had been scheduled to vote on October. 29.
“He’s the consensus candidate at this point”, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said after the meeting.
“By the time we come back in another week, I think we’ll be ready to take a few action”, King says.
Republican Reps. Jason Chaffetz (Utah) and Daniel Webster (Fla.) are already running for Speaker, though Chaffetz is also expected to step aside should Ryan jump in.
While Republicans wait to see what Paul Ryan does, other GOP lawmakers are taking this week to talk over their options with those who matter back home.
If Ryan made a pitch, “I think our group would be favorable towards him, but we’re not there yet”, Jordan said yesterday on “Fox News Sunday”. If the Republican Conference changes the rules, he would have to resign his position as the chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in order to run. Ryan has said he isn’t interested in the job.
Members of Jordan’s group helped trigger John Boehner’s resignation from the House of Representatives by threatening to hold a new vote on whether he should remain as speaker.
“There would be this hope in the White House that they could cut a deal with him”, Allen said. According to several reports, though, Boehner called Ryan after the announcement to ask him to run.
Another caucus member, Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador, also described Mr. Ryan as “a friend”, saying “we have a close relationship”. He is the most prestigious member of the House on the Republican side, he has the best future, he’s still very young. After McCarthy dropped out, Ryan said he might reconsider his refusal. Still, he thought that getting the support of every single House Republican is “just not reasonable”. They sometimes disagree with him, but they trust that he is in politics because of conservative ideas.
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Another Republican stepped forward on Monday to contend for the top job in the U.S. House of Representatives, laying claim to a post that others have so far found too hot to handle.
