While Paul Ryan seemed to have no problem accepting the position of Mitt Romney’s running mate, convincing him to succeed John Boehner has proven less easy.
Talk about the Presidential race has taken a backseat in the past couple weeks after John Boehner admitted to plans of stepping down as House Speaker. While nobody seems to want the position, prominent Republicans, including Boehner himself, have been trying to convince Rep and former Vice Presidential hopeful Paul Ryan to put himself forward for the job, as he’s one of the few unifying figures in the House Republican Conference. Yet at this tumultuous moment in Congress’ history, the position is a proverbial hot potato, that Ryan has no desire to grab. Nonetheless, he has been endorsed by numerous big names in the Republican Party, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Benghazi committee chair Trey Growdy.
While he’s had no problem accepting vice presidential nominations, Ryan has a history of turning down the chance to run for high-profile Congressional positions, including for the Senate and other Republican leadership slots. Back in 2008, there was an attempt to draft him to run against Boehner after the GOP lost control of the House, and there were efforts last year to bring him into a leadership position after then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary.
So far Ryan has denied that he’d be a candidate to succeed Boehner, who despite his resignation has pledged to remain in his job until a new speaker was installed. While the election to choose his replacement has originally been set for October 29, the date is now uncertain. It’s unclear if more candidates will enter the race, or if it will remain a contest between Jason Chaffetz and Daniel Webster. While Lynn Westmoreland has also expressed interest in putting himself out as a candidate, he hasn’t officially put his name down just yet.
An unnamed source, who claims to be familiar with Ryan, thinks that he’ll eventually join, saying that the pressure to do so will be “unrelenting” enough that he’ll end up caving in. While he seems reluctant to throw his name into the ring, Ryan hasn’t flatly denied a bid for the Speaker’s chair, only claiming that he doesn’t have anything “interesting” to say. You can find out more here!
