Powerful, conservative Republican caucus open to Ryan as next speaker

Ryan has said he does not want the House speaker job, despite pressure from colleagues.

He turned to the Ryan mania over the weekend, with a letter arguing that the Republicans in Congress would be better served with Ryan remaining as chairman of the House Budget Committee and a quiet strategist as speaker. “And certainly if he gets in the race, I think our group would look favorably on him”, Jordan said.

The caucus, which was influential in ousting House Speaker John Boehner last month, has officially endorsed Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, one of the caucus’ roughly 40 members.

Those changes, he said, include decentralizing power – letting rank-and-file members have more say over who is assigned to which committees, regardless of the political will of GOP leaders, and which bills advance to the House floor. “I think he will agree to that”, Jordan said.

Entering a closed-door Republican meeting this morning, McCarthy said he’s spoken with Ryan about it and thinks the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee would make a “great speaker”. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) has a lot of sense and I hope he runs. Public opinion suggests Congressional Republicans receive more of the blame in those instances than the White House, but many conservatives argue it’s because President Obama has won the messaging war with their current leadership.

Speaker hopeful Chaffetz went on ABC’s Sunday news show “This Week”, to make his case for the position.

“If he decides to do it, he’d be an wonderful speaker”, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who recently dropped out of the race, said Friday.

Before the House adjourned, outgoing Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who’d meant to leave Congress October. 30, assured lawmakers he would stay on until a replacement can be selected. Ryan said repeatedly Friday, however, that he would not run.

Republicans’ control of both the House and Senate was an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to govern.

“No one gets their way all of the time”, he said.

The House Freedom Caucus should push for a wide-open debate on the next speaker, he said. Freedom Caucus members had presented McCarthy with a list of demands he and top aides concluded could be next to impossible to meet, including a seat at the leadership table, a role in selecting committee chairs and members, and more votes on their legislative proposals.

Freedom Caucus members insist that their goal is not to get a speaker who is necessarily as conservative as they are. Still, he thought that getting the support of every single House Republican is “just not reasonable”. Other Republicans were willing to compromise on the issue to avoid a government shutdown. “I am just running for that set of principles that says we are going to have a principle-based member-groomed Congress”.