Under pressure, Ryan weighs House speaker post

WASHINGTON – After repeatedly insisting that he had no interest in becoming speaker of the House, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan was seriously considering the job Friday.

He had little choice. The wonkish Wisconsin congressman and former vice presidential nominee is seen as the GOP’s best hope to calm the chaos in the GOP-controlled House after Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., abruptly pulled out of the race to replace retiring Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, amid a conservative backlash.

As House Republicans met privately Friday in the Capitol basement to assess the fallout, the hard sell to recruit Ryan spilled into open pleadings that he run. Some even suggested he should simply be made speaker without a vote – by acclamation.

“Paul’s looking at it, but it’s his decision,” McCarthy said after the session. “If he decides to do it, he’d be an amazing speaker.” But McCarthy, who was considered next in line for the post, also offered a caution: “It’s a big job.”

It’s not hard to understand Ryan’s hesitation. Taking over the gavel could be a political loser for Ryan, who would inherit the same dysfunction fueled by a rebellious conservative minority that forced Boehner to announce his early retirement just two weeks ago and then doomed McCarthy’s bid to replace him.

Behind the usual protestations against spending time away from his family and three small children, Ryan’s reluctance is rooted in a more realistic calculation of the political damage the speaker’s job could do to his promising career.

Now in his ninth term in office, Ryan is often mentioned as presidential material, even though he passed on the 2016 campaign to remain at his perch as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He is thought of as one of the GOP’s brightest thinkers and the economic guru who crafted the “Ryan Budget” that would turn Medicare into a voucher system to deeply cut costs.

At the same time, Ryan has enjoyed unusual popularity among Republicans without the messy challenges of leadership or the time-consuming job of fundraising. Among other duties, the modern speaker must spend much of his or her time traveling the country to raise money for the party’s candidates.

But Ryan’s conservative credentials have not been fully tested in the day-to-day wrangling required of a leader, and a bruising turn as speaker risks dimming his star power. Outside conservative groups have already begun to attack.

“I know Paul’s getting a lot of pressure today,” said Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash. “I don’t care who the speaker is, he’s going to have the same battles.”

Ryan did not address the closed-door session Friday, but Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a committee chairman, said he thought Ryan would agree to run.

“We’re going to need a leader who can bring all these factions together instead of being at war with each other, and that’s very difficult to do,” McCaul said. “I think he’s leaning toward it. I know the speaker’s been putting a lot of pressure on him. I know various members of the conference and chairman – they want him to get in.”

Ryan once aligned himself with a new generation of Republicans. “Young Guns” was a political manifesto he wrote with McCarthy and former Majority Leader Eric Cantor just five years ago.

But the Young Gun era has already been pushed aside by an even fresher group of hard-line conservatives that has thrown the party into disarray.

As lawmakers adjourned for a week’s recess, at least a dozen other Republicans have emerged as possible candidates, but none has broad appeal among the severely divided majority.

In the meantime, Boehner’s scheduled Oct. 30 departure could be delayed. He has vowed to stay on until a new leader is chosen, which he predicted would take place by the end of the month.