The leadership turmoil in the U.S. House of Representatives has now turned into a game of waiting for Ryan.
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This time last week House Republicans were reeling from the announcement by frontrunner and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that he was suddenly dropping out of the race to succeed Speaker John Boehner, whose earlier decision was equally shocking. Bill Flores of Waco, Mike Conaway of Midland, Pete Sessions of Dallas and Mike McCaul of Austin – are putting out the word to GOP colleagues that they’re interested in being speaker, but careful to say that is Ryan-contingent.
MONTAGNE: Now, you have spoken out in favor of Paul Ryan taking the speakership position.
Ryan officially still does not want the job and may not make his decision this week.
But Ryan doesn’t want the post, and said he’s not running.
Although Price said he would not run for the speaker’s job, he would not close the door entirely.
As the saying goes, when you don’t stand for something, you stand for nothing. House Speaker John Boehner announced September 25 he would resign from the speakership and his House seat effective at the end of October. McCarthy was the heir apparent, but he abruptly withdrew his candidacy as the internal House GOP vote was about to begin. Kelly said that he has been approached by people in Congress and the private sector telling him he should consider a run for speaker. Thus, the more moderate Republicans in the New Hampshire House joined with Democrats to elect Shawn Jasper as their speaker in December.
For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over these obstinate conservatives, the fact is their existence and influence are proof that a segment of the GOP base has exhausted of the party leadership’s capitulations to Democrats in the empty name of demonstrating that Republicans can “govern”.
If Ryan stays out, the field is a jumble.
Mulvaney is a founding member of the 40-to-50-member House Freedom Caucus, which plans to vote in the Speaker election as a bloc.
Before Congress split town, Westmoreland met with fellow Southern members to try to feel out the race. With 25 Republicans, the Texas delegation constitutes serious weight if it can come together behind one candidate.
Americans not familiar with the inside baseball of Washington ponder how 40 Republicans can prevent a speaker from being elected when 247 of the House’s 435 members represent the Republican Party. But Walker, who ended his own bid for the nomination, told a Milwaukee radio station Trump’s lead in the polls could erode as Republican voters get more acquainted with the other candidates. Those groups hold a great deal of sway over our political process, and the nation is the worse for it. Its members, which include freshman GOP U.S. Reps.
“He’s quite a fixture around the Janesville community, and that would definitely change”, Johnson said.
“It’s not going to be a person, because people come and go”, Loudermilk said. And we’re having a pretty vigorous discussion internally about rules. Everybody has equal access to bring a bill to the floor.
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“Being speaker, you do have a few ability to shape that agenda, move something for a vote that’s stuck in committee”, Canon said. “That’s what we’re looking for”. The House, through Republican and Democratic leadership, has been a top-down model of leadership.
