House Speaker Ryan to quit, shaking Republicans as U.S. elections near

[webfact]

House Speaker Ryan to quit, shaking Republicans as U.S. elections near

By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell

 

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) addresses a news conference where he announced he would not seek re-election in November, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan will not seek re-election and will leave his post at the start of 2019, dealing a blow to fellow Republicans and President Donald Trump ahead of fast-approaching congressional elections.

 

By triggering a House leadership struggle when the party should focus on defending its congressional majorities and advancing Trump's agenda, Ryan dismayed some Republicans already concerned about their prospects with U.S. voters in November.

 

“It’s going to set off an intramural war among Republicans on who is going to be the next speaker. It will take the eye off the ball of keeping a majority in the House,” said one Republican veteran who asked not to be identified.

 

Trump's 2018 agenda, including construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and an infrastructure proposal, has gained little traction. Ryan's departure will not likely improve the outlook, said John Feehery, a Republican lobbyist who worked as spokesman for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

 

"Realistically, the chances were low of anything getting done anyway,” Feehery said.

 

The Republicans' biggest policy win since Trump took office almost 15 months ago has been the tax overhaul approved in December, an achievement in which Ryan played a major role despite his sometimes strained relationship with the volatile president.

 

Asked how much Trump and his conduct influenced his decision not to seek re-election for his seat representing a district in southeastern Wisconsin, Ryan told reporters: "Not at all."

 

Politico later quoted Ryan as saying in an interview that he had a good rapport with Trump, but wished the president tweeted less. "It works better to have private conversations than public disputes," Ryan said.

 

Ryan's announcement was the latest upheaval in Washington in Trump's second year as president, after the resignations and firings of numerous White House officials and Cabinet members.

 

In 2016, Trump slammed Ryan as a "very weak and ineffective leader." On Wednesday, Trump wrote on Twitter: "Speaker Paul Ryan is a truly good man, and while he will not be seeking re-election, he will leave a legacy of achievement that nobody can question. We are with you Paul!"

Ryan, who was the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012, poured cold water on speculation he could be eyeing a presidential campaign in 2020 or beyond.

 

"I’m not going to run for president. That’s not my plan," he said on CNN.

 

Ryan was scheduled to dine with Trump and other Republican congressional leaders on Wednesday evening at the White House.

 

CITES TAX OVERHAUL

 

Ryan became speaker in 2015 after fellow Republican John Boehner quit amid clashes with right-wing Republicans.

 

While Ryan cultivated a reputation as a fiscal conservative, the December 2017 tax law and later federal spending deals he helped negotiate will help rack up $11.7 trillion in federal deficits over the next decade, according to recent estimates by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

 

Among names circulating as a possible Ryan replacement were House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was wounded by a gunman last year. The two are expected to wage a furious effort to raise campaign funds for fellow House Republicans to shore up support for their potential leadership aspirations.

 

Mark Meadows, who heads the conservative House Freedom Caucus that helped prompt Boehner's departure, told reporters the top House Republican job was not on his list of goals.

 

Although not on a par with Ryan, both McCarthy and Scalise are strong campaign fundraisers, a crucial talent in any contest for congressional leadership in both parties.

 

Stanley Hubbard, a billionaire Republican donor who owns the radio company Hubbard Broadcasting, said fundraising skill "absolutely" would be a key to choosing the next speaker.

 

McCarthy raised $8.75 million in the first quarter of 2018, sending $2.9 million of that to the National Republican Campaign Committee, which helps fund Republicans' campaigns.

 

Scalise has not yet made public his fundraising totals for the first three months of the year. Ryan brought in $11 million in the first quarter.

"Ryan's retirement wasn't a huge shock to the political establishment and he leaves behind two prolific fundraisers in Scalise and McCarthy," said Joe Brettell, a Texas-based Republican strategist.

 

TRUMP AND RYAN

 

Ryan was criticized by Democrats for what they saw as his failure to stand up to Trump over his attacks on U.S. law enforcement and his alienation of U.S. allies.

 

In 2016, Ryan hesitated to endorse Trump after it became clear the wealthy New York real estate developer would become the party's presidential nominee, but eventually did so.

 

Ryan voiced unease at candidate Trump's call for banning Muslims from entering the United States and his criticism of a Mexican-American U.S. judge. A month before the 2016 election, Ryan said he was "sickened" by Trump's remarks about groping women captured on a 2005 audiotape.

 

After Trump won the presidency in November 2016, Ryan's words softened as he expressed annoyance at being asked to respond to the president's incendiary Twitter messages, but rarely offered direct criticism.

 

In stepping down, Ryan may have boosted Democratic prospects in November. Democrats need to pick up at least 23 seats in the 435-member House to regain the majority.

 

Another Republican House member, Dennis Ross of Florida, said on Friday he would not seek re-election. Forty-five House Republicans now have either resigned or announced plans not to seek re-election, compared with 20 Democrats.

 

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Ginger Gibson, Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-12

[Samui Bodoh]

Good bye and good riddance!

 

Ryan has been a failure. At a time when the Republican party needed someone to provide leadership and a moral compass, Ryan cried, whinged, whined and caved like a 7 year old girl.

 

During the election, Ryan said (correctly) that Trump's actions with regard to Judge Curiel were "a textbook definition of racism" and that he wouldn't support him, yet there he was at Trump's side when he wanted power. Hypocrite.

 

Ryan argued for years to reform the tax code and get a grip on the deficit, but in the end presided over a tax give-away and deficit explosion. Hypocrite.

 

I could go on listing all the failures of Ryan, but I don't want to type that much. Suffice to say that every and all principle that Ryan advocated during his career were tossed out the window to please Trump, and yet he was still used and abused like all others. Stupid hypocrite.

 

History will not be kind to Ryan.

 

The one piece of good news about this story is that it is further evidence that the Republicans know that they are about to get the crap knocked out of them come next election. Opinion polls can be useful tools to gauge opinion, but I have always felt that the best indicator of a party's state is the number of representatives who decide NOT to compete in an up-coming election; we all complain (rightly) about politicians, but I have tremendous respect for their ability to judge which way the wind is blowing. Republicans, you are facing a category 5 crap storm.

 

Rah! Yeah! Whohoo!

 

[mfd101]

13 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

History will not be kind to Ryan

History won't remember him.

[Anak Nakal]

Ryan have bad hair.

Bye! 

[Benmart]

4 hours ago, mfd101 said:

History won't remember him.

Forcasting history is difficult unless one has a crystal ball 

[attrayant]

He wanted more time to spend with his tax cuts.

[Gillyflower]

I don't know why the Republicans are so devastated by the news.  They have known for months that he wasn't standing for re-election.  I heard and saw that on CNN months ago.

[bristolboy]

1 minute ago, Gillyflower said:

I don't know why the Republicans are so devastated by the news.  They have known for months that he wasn't standing for re-election.  I heard and saw that on CNN months ago.

They didn't know it. It was a rumor. That said, I don't see why his standing down is such a big deal. Do voters in other districts care whether or not Paul Ryan is the speaker? The only possible material difference is that he's been an indefatigable fund raiser for Congressional Republicans and even if he continues doing so, as a lame duck, he may draw less in funds. But I suspect that most of that cash will find another route to Republican candidates.

It may be that Ryan's resignation is considered significant in a canary-in-a-coal-mine way. As a harbinger of disaster but not a cause of it.

[Srikcir]

Glad he's leaving. I'm always confusing Paul Ryan with Rand Paul.

[Jingthing]

Ryan leaving makes an epic BLUE WAVE midterm more likely which makes impeachment of "trump" more likely as well.

 

Paul Ryan is (scratch that was) a wolf in fit sheep's clothing. His brand which is (scratch that was) largely the republican brand -- trashing the poor and the elderly.

 

It's a shame that he's leaving without suffering the major disgrace that he so richly deserves. 

 

Quote

 

A scam of a party says goodbye to its top fraud

Being cynical, dishonest, and enabling Donald Trump? His work here is done.

...

Paul Ryan was always a fraud. He pretended to be a wonk’s wonk, but his budget and policy plans were full of sleight-of-hand and magic asterisks that fell apart on the most superficial examination. He pretended to be terribly worried about the deficit, but he happily jacked it up when he got the chance. He pretended to care deeply about the poor, but would have made their lives impossibly more miserable had doing so been politically tenable.

 

 

http://www.paywallnews.com/life/Opinion-|-Paul-Ryan-perfectly-represented-today’s-GOP--And-that-was-the-problem-.SJNPtpsjf.html

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by Jingthing

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, mfd101 said:

History won't remember him.

Won't remember who? 

 

Either he's telling the truth about wanting to be with his children, or he knows something.

The congressional GOP has behaved appallingly and must be turning voters off in droves. The GOP voters wanted the wall, immigration reform and a sensible budget. They got none of them.

However, if some good reformer candidates stand that support Trump, they may have a chance to keep the house. It's anyone's guess as to the senate though.

[thaibeachlovers]

27 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

which makes impeachment of "trump" more likely as well.

Which is irrelevant if the senate is still GOP majority.

[dunroaming]

5 hours ago, bristolboy said:

It may be that Ryan's resignation is considered significant in a canary-in-a-coal-mine way. As a harbinger of disaster but not a cause of it.

I like that bit!  We all know the cause of the forthcoming disaster. 

[GinBoy2]

Well this is akin to Skilling leaving Enron as the ship was sinking....I always think Skilling thought he was leaving before the ship went down....It was fine when I left guys!

It was always going to be tough midterms, but I think he could see the writing on the wall.

He's a canny politician no matter what you think of his policies, but the prospect of increasing red ink as far as the eye can see, and the increasing number of GOP Reps calling it quits and heading for the door, is an electoral train wreck in progress.

Remember they were already facing the Trump fatigue factor, which was going make the burbs much more difficult. But given the fact that incumbency is the greatest advantage to reelection, with this wave of retirements, it makes an increasing number of what should have been safe GOP seats much more vulnerable. In fact the bookies are now even saying Ryan's WI seat has moved from safe Rep, to a toss up.

I just don't think he wanted to be associated with what might be a disaster.

That being said. He's only 48, I fully expect him to re emerge at some point in the future and make a run at the Presidency

[Gillyflower]

6 hours ago, bristolboy said:

They didn't know it. It was a rumor. That said, I don't see why his standing down is such a big deal. Do voters in other districts care whether or not Paul Ryan is the speaker? The only possible material difference is that he's been an indefatigable fund raiser for Congressional Republicans and even if he continues doing so, as a lame duck, he may draw less in funds. But I suspect that most of that cash will find another route to Republican candidates.

It may be that Ryan's resignation is considered significant in a canary-in-a-coal-mine way. As a harbinger of disaster but not a cause of it.

I'm not arguing with you B.Boy, but I could have sworn that I saw Ryan himself say it.  I only get CNN in LOS and I think it was at the beginning of the Trump reign.  If I'm not mistaken Ryan at that time was not an ardent Trump supporter.

[Expatthailover]

Another of the crew (kindest word in the curcumstances ) to leave the sinking ship. More senior republicans planing to leave.

Trump will be doing a passable impersonation of Custer.

We know how that ended.