House Conservatives Lukewarm to Idea of Ryan as Speaker

He said Ryan, the Ways and Means Committee chairman who was also the party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, is “looking at” mounting a bid.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said Friday he is a potential candidate for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a post that Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is hoping to vacate at the end of this month. In addition, any presidential aspirations the 45-year-old Wisconsin lawmaker might have could be undercut by holding the chamber’s top job and managing an unruly GOP caucus. Ryan points to his young family as the source of his reluctance to take the job, which requires constant travel and fundraising.

But the pressure on Ryan to get in is mounting, from Boehner to the man he ran with for president, Mitt Romney.

Ryan’s spokesman Brendan Buck noted, however, that Ryan had repeatedly said he is not seeking the speaker’s job.

His exit left the party with no obvious choice to succeed John Boehner, who said Thursday he would remain as speaker until a successor is chosen.

On Thursday, Republicans were aghast when McCarthy told them he wouldn’t seek the speakership.

And Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), another founding member of the Freedom Caucus, suggested changes in how the majority elects committee chairs. “But he would make it very hard for House conservatives because to oppose Ryan is, in the minds of much of the press, to oppose conservatism itself”, Erickson wrote while detailing Ryan’s work with establishment-oriented Republicans.

Again Friday morning, Ryan’s office released another statement curtailing his interest in the position. McCarthy was seen unfavorably by many in the party’s conservative base as Boehner 2.0, and therefore unacceptable to the faction of the House that pushed Boehner to offer his resignation in the first place.

“I don’t understand why we didn’t vote yesterday”, Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert said.

The most vocal of those Republicans has been Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who pointed to centrist Republicans having to depend on Democratic votes recently to pass government funding, when only 91 Republicans were willing to vote to keep the government open.

After McCarthy revealed his decision to his colleagues – standing beside his wife, Judy – the five-term lawmaker told reporters, “If we are going to be strong, we’ve got to be 100 percent united”. When Newt Gingrich was ousted after the 1998 elections (technically he quit, but only because he knew what was coming), Republicans chose Bob Livingston to replace him – only to have Livingston shock everyone by admitting an affair and resigning from Congress. Chaos?

In a release to the Journal, Noem said, “I believe we need to elect an individual who can lead us through the challenges ahead with unity and in accordance with our core principles”.

The emergence of Ryan overshadows other possible Republican contenders for the speaker’s gavel – including those from Texas.