House Speaker Paul Ryan says that although he’s retiring at the end of this term, he’s going to finish it out as speaker. Some House Republicans are saying not so fast. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, in particular, seems ready to make his move:
Several allies to Majority Leader and speaker hopeful Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) say House Republicans need to be united heading into the midterms, and that a leadership race could split the conference. Other Republicans are questioning whether having a lame duck speaker at the helm of the Republican Conference will hurt their fundraising.
“We would have more success if there’s no ambiguity as to what the leadership structure might look like,” said Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), one of McCarthy’s closest allies, who is pushing for a vote to replace Ryan sooner rather than later. “Certainty is important... From the conversations I’ve had, everybody wants our ‘A team’ in place, our strongest team in place so we have the strongest outcome going into the election cycle.”
In a weird twist of internal politics, the people who most want Ryan to stay are the members of his caucus who’ve probably given him the most headaches: the extremist Freedom Caucus. They figure that an extended campaign for speaker between McCarthy and Steve Scalise, the majority whip, would give them lots of leverage:
Rep. Tom Massie, a libertarian from Kentucky and frequent leadership critic, hinted at this dynamic. He joked that Ryan’s announcement was “great” because it sets up “the longest speakership race in history” — meaning “all these guys are going to be polite because they’re all going to be running for something.”
“I’m looking forward to a new level of politeness in the House,” he smirked. “A lot of people will get free meals at the Capitol Hill Club.”
Can Ryan hang on? It’s going to be an entertaining show, if you can block out the part where their party is destroying our country.
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