John Boehner is asking Paul Ryan to ‘step up and be speaker’

U.S. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH, 8th District), who recently announced his resignation as Speaker of the House, has cancelled a scheduled appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”, TheWrap has learned. “The same members who wanted to take down John Boehner, I always said would try to frag the next guy”.

“Kevin McCarthy dropped out of the Speaker race because of the House Freedom Caucus and grassroots pressure”, said Adam Brandon, CEO of FreedomWorks, a Tea Party group.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said McCarthy was “unselfish” by prioritizing the Republican conference ahead of his own political ambitions, while anti-establishment GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump expressed enthusiasm over the news in a tweet.

“I would assume by the close of business today, you’ll see a few new candidates”, said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington.

McCarthy had been heavily favored to be nominated by his fellow Republicans. “I get that. I ran because I’m trying to bridge the gulf and divide in the Republican conference and say hey, it’s time for a fresh start”, he told reporters.

McCarthy was running for speaker against Reps. A bloc of several dozen of the House’s most conservative members, known as the Freedom Caucus, endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., after a closed-door meeting on Wednesday.

Immediately afterward, Ryan ruled himself out as a candidate for speaker. “It just would’ve been a repeat of the dilemma that Speaker Boehner faced, where he was constantly trying to appease that wing of the party”, Welch said.

The California Republican was believed to be the favorite to succeed Boehner, and appeared to have the votes to win the GOP nomination for the post.

The move raised doubts about Mr McCarthy’s ability to reach the required 218 votes on the floor of the House in the ballot.

“I was absolutely stunned, surprised and shocked that this happened”, said Representative Jason Chaffetz, (R-UT). In his announcement, McCarthy reportedly said, “I’m not the one to unify the party”.

Cruz, who holds significant influence with House conservatives and has spurred them to stymie Boehner’s budget negotiations with Democrats, did not take the bait when asked who the House Republicans should now support.