House Republicans asks: Can anyone lead us?

Pressure mounted through the day to convince Ryan to run for speaker, after John Boehner announced he was leaving the speaker’s chair and the favorite to replace him, Kevin McCarthy, suddenly opted out of the race Thursday.

House Republicans gathered for a party meeting Friday morning to discuss who will fill the role of speaker.

Ryan, the Ways and Means Committee chairman and Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate in 2012 is respected throughout the conference and on paper could bridge the gap between tea party-linked conservatives and more establishment Republicans. 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 its unruly caucus. Ryan points to his young family as the source of his reluctance to take the job, which requires constant travel and fundraising.

The race for speaker of the Republican-dominated House was upended when front-runner McCarthy dropped out, saying he could not get enough support to win.

It’s believed that the letters that the House GOP came from an alleged right-wing activist who is known for spamming Republicans.

Until Ryan makes his intentions clear, House Republicans – including those from Texas – are in a holding pattern when it comes to backing a candidate. Ryan had no comment following the gathering of GOP lawmakers earlier in the morning. But according to one political science professor, a divided Republican party could make that process a little more complicated.

“Two people now have taken themselves out of the running”, said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.

“I wouldn’t presume to tell Paul what to do, but I do know that he is a man of ideas who is driven to see them applied for the public good”. Boehner requested unanimous consent to postpone the election – rather than immediately moving to vote on the remaining two candidates.

The group of 30 to 40 conservatives, called the House Freedom Caucus, considered McCarthy too close to Boehner, whose leadership team had punished a few conservatives by removing them from committees.

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

“I think we need to find someone else who will unify our conference and protect the institution”, Kline told reporters.

Whether this is bad for the Republican Party isn’t our concern, but in the free advice department, we’d say being pushed into paralysis by a tiny but vocal minority isn’t doing the GOP brand any favors.

Chaffetz called Ryan the “most qualified” person to be speaker, but said he hasn’t talked to him.

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) criticized one of Ryan’s biggest legislative achievements: a budget agreement he once reached with Sen.

Rather than moving to vote on other announced candidates – Representative Daniel Webster of Florida and Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah – Mr Boehner said the ballot should be postponed. That election was set for October 29, but its date is now uncertain.

This speech follows McCarthy’s surprise decision to remove his name from the house speaker race, reported Salon.