Speaker bows out of reelex in face of a likely Dem wave
SPEAKER Paul Ryan’s reluctant tenure leading the House of Representatives is coming to an end, as he announced his retirement at the end of this year.
“To be clear, I am not resigning,” the 48-year-old Wisconsin Republican said Wednesday morning. “I intend to fully serve my term as I was elected to do, but I will be retiring in January, leaving this majority in good hands with what I believe is a very bright future.”
Ryan’s not quite three years as speaker will come to an end with Democrats making a forceful attempt to take control of the House in the midterm elections this November. Dozens of Ryan’s fellow Republicans have opted not to run for reelection.
The 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee denied his decision was influenced by a mounting blue wave, saying he simply wants to spend more time with his teenage children back in Wisconsin.
“What I realize is if I am here for one more term, my kids will only have known me as a weekend dad,” Ryan said. “I cannot just let that happen.”
The one-time fiscal hawk has spent 20 years in the House, the last three as speaker after John Boehner retired in October 2015.
“I didn’t want this job at first and most of you know this, I really actually didn’t,” he said Wednesday. “But I have to thank my colleagues for giving me this opportunity and this honor.”
Ryan became the highest-ranking GOP lawmaker opting not to run in 2018, along with Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.).
Rep. Dennis Ross (RFla.), the senior deputy majority whip, joined that list as Ryan made his announcement, saying he wouldn’t seek a fifth term this fall.
Ryan disparaged colleagues and advisers who suggested he should run in November, then retire after he’s sworn in next January.
“My conscience could not let me go out that way,” Ryan said. “To ask them to vote to reelect me knowing that I wasn’t going to stay is not being honest. So I simply cannot do that.”
Democrat Randy Bryce, a Wisconsin ironworker, has mounted a formidable campaign against Ryan in Wisconsin’s First District. The candidate, who uses the “IronStache” moniker, has amassed a mighty $2.3 million war chest.
Ryan first took office in 1999 and made entitlement and tax reform the hallmarks of his two decades in Congress.
Hedeclared victory Wednesday for passing the highly scrutinized round of tax reforms last December — the most substantial in more than 35 years.
But critics said the longtime budget-minded lawmaker will leave a tainted legacy when the results of the tax cuts are coupled with the latest spending bill.
Economist Stan Collander said Ryan’s “most lasting legacy as speaker of the House of Representatives will be as the person who enabled permanent trillion-dollar deficits in the United States.”
Critics have also accused Ryan of not taking a tough enough stance against President Trump’s more impulsive tendencies, however.
Ryan reportedly phoned the President and Vice President Pence, his former House colleague, to let them know about his decision.
“Speaker Paul Ryan is a truly good man, and while he will not be seeking reelection, he will leave a legacy of achievement that nobody can question,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “We are with you Paul!”
Who will succeed him next year depends on what happens in this November’s election.
If Republicans hold their majority in the House, the speakership could go to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) or Majority Whip Steve Scalise (La.), among others in the GOP leadership.
Rep. Mark Meadows, who chairs the conservative House Freedom Caucus, signaled he wouldn’t vie for the speaker’s gavel.
“Leadership has never been on my bucket list,” he told MSNBC.
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