Paul Ryan Announces Bid for House Speaker

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy threw his name into the hat to be the next speaker, but quickly withdrew it when support failed to materialize. He said he was not the type of leader who is out to seek retribution, unlike past leaders.

Texans said they liked Ryan’s emphasis on selling the GOP message, empowering rank-and-file lawmakers, and considering legislation on its merit – not its sponsor’s seniority. “In a few sense it’s more about [their] strategic differences in how to best pass a conservative agenda”.

He especially impressed former Gov. Mitt Romney, who chose Mr. Ryan to be his running mate from a long list of party leaders.

In Mr. Ryan, 45, the Republican majority would have a young new face. 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.

“I never thought I’d be speaker”, the Wisconsin Republican said. In a letter to his colleagues last (Thursday) night, Ryan said he believes the Grand Old Party is “ready to move forward as one united team”.

Ryan, the Ways and Means Committee chairman and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, met with the Texans on Thursday morning, promising a clean slate for the House GOP and more power for individual members. It said Thursday Ryan is “the right person to lead the House going forward”. This isn’t so much because Ryan lacks the skills necessary to be a good Speaker, because I think that he does.

President Obama always says “If you work hard and you take responsibility, you can get ahead”. Apparently, Ryan gave them enough assurance that he’d consider the changes they were asking for, but he hasn’t fully committed to any of them.

There was discussion about divvying up responsibilities, but also about redefining the role of the speaker.

Freedom Caucus members’ views often echo the grassroots GOP anger that has propelled Donald Trump and Ben Carson to the top of the party’s pile of 2016 presidential hopefuls.

McCarthy served as a counselor to Ryan throughout the process.

Ryan would arguably be the most conservative lawmaker in generations to rise to the office of speaker.

For all of the point in Ryan’s favor, though, there remain many doubts. “Their vote is recognition by many of them that they overplayed their hand with their colleagues”, said California Republican Rep. Tom McClintock. We won’t recover from that. Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday he was hopeful there would be a new speaker next week. Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, a Ryan supporter, said home time would give Ryan balance. And while the House Speaker is third in line to the Presidency, I can’t recall when, if ever, a House speaker was elected president. I have got a set of rules for the 114th Congress on my desk that’s 1,308 pages. The Freedom Caucus did not go along and the matter remains unresolved.

“We are not changing this fundamental right that members have relative to the ‘motion to vacate, ‘” Jordan told CNN. “We made that very clear”. The group was seen as the biggest potential roadblock to a Ryan speakership. To me that goes too far and Republicans should push back against that.