Ryan has the votes, does he want the job?
Scramble for speaker reveals the influence of Tea Party allies
The head of the House Freedom Caucus that helped upend last week’s planned choice of a new speaker predicted Sunday members of the rebellious group would “look favorably” on Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan for the top job.
Ryan also won praise from more centrist representatives and even from a congressman who has announced his own campaign for speaker. Yet the 45-year-old chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, who spent the week- end with his family in Janesville, Wis., remained mum on whether he was willing to accept a role he had previously rejected.
The public courting of Ryan spotlighted the search by House Republicans to regain their footing after Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., unexpectedly withdrew his name from contention at a session that was expected to choose him to succeed Speaker John Boehner, R- Ohio.
Still, demands by Tea Partyaligned forces in the House for more decentralized power and confrontational tactics by GOP leaders were still in evidence.
“If he gets in the race, I think our group would look favorably on him,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said on Fox News Sunday. He called Ryan a “great communicator” and “the kind of messen- ger our party needs.” The caucus, which has about 40 members, officially has endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., for speaker.
On ABC’s This Week, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who is running for speaker, called Ryan “a visionary” who “understand the institution.”
On CNN’s State of the Union, Rep. Tom Cole, R- Okla., an ally of Boehner, said he hoped Ryan would decide to run.
And Rep. Mick Mulvaney, RS.C., a member of the Freedom Caucus, urged Ryan to accept the job. “Sometimes you just need to do it, right?” he said on CBS’ Face
the Nation. “The country needs you. The party needs you.” He said Ryan went “right to the head of the list” of those who could unite warring Republicans.
But in a sign of the challenges involved, Mulvaney also said the deadline to raise the debt ceiling early next month should be used as an opportunity to reduce spending. The deadline to fund the federal government looms in December.
Ryan, who was the GOP nominee for vice president in 2012, has said he wants to focus on the Ways and Means Committee, include a possible overhaul of the tax code, and has expressed concerns about the demands on his family if he were speaker. He has three school-age children.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, speculated about whether his protestations about not wanting the job were real.
“I think he doesn’t want it very badly, but you never know,” Trump said on Face the Nation. “Maybe he’s playing one of the great games of all time.”
“Sometimes you just need to do it, right? The country needs you. The party needs you.” Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R- S.C.