On Wednesday night the Freedom Caucus, the conservative wing responsible for the current leadership crisis, said they’ll give Ryan the support he needs to be elected speaker, but signaled that they won’t give in to his conditions for taking the job.
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If they back the Wisconsin Republican – which two-thirds of the caucus’ roughly 40 lawmakers did in a closed-door vote late Wednesday – the group could improve frayed ties with their GOP congressional colleagues.
The endorsement means all nine Michigan House Republicans back Ryan – the first time in at least the past four years that the GOP delegation has been united on a speaker candidate.
Rep. Paul Ryan, on his way to becoming speaker of the House and second in line to the presidency, says Congress must change its ways.
President Obama often complains that Speaker John A. Boehner can’t control House Republicans, but on Thursday the White House expressed concern that Rep. Paul Ryan is trying to unify those same lawmakers in his bid to become the new speaker. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is among those planning to support Ryan’s foe, GOP Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida.
Rep. Paul Ryan announced on October. 20 that he will run for House speaker, saying “this is not a job I ever sought”. The Freedom Caucus’ support fell short of a formal endorsement, since that would have required 80 percent agreement that the group was not able to achieve, but Ryan accepted it as a show of unity.
Ryan would inherit a House with major budgetary and spending deadlines on the horizon.
“He (Ryan) has the policy expertise, conservative principles and strong values we need in our next Speaker”, Representative Bill Flores, chairman of the group, said in a statement.
So, heading into the meeting with Ryan-which began just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday-there was near-unanimous opposition to Ryan in the House Freedom Caucus.
Ryan has drawn fire from the right for his support of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) when federal funds were used to bailout the financial industry in 2008. He also said he’ll respect the “Hastert Rule”, which states that legislation can only move forward with the support of a majority of the majority party, which reassured members concerned about his previous support for immigration reform.
Republican Representative Paul Ryan officially jumped into the race for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday after nailing down crucial endorsements from conservative and moderate factions.
“I’m grateful for the support of a supermajority of the House Freedom Caucus”, Ryan said after the vote. But the challenge will come the next day, when a full House floor vote poses a less certain outcome if all Republicans do not unite against Democrats.
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Calling Ryan a “man who asked to be made king”, the conservative radio personality said he felt betrayed by the hardline conservative group and accused it of selling out. After Boehner’s stunning announcement at the end of September, the Ohio Republican’s presumptive heir, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California made the equally surprising decision to withdraw from consideration just moments before the conference was due to nominate him.
