As The New York Times reports, Representative Paul Ryan has expressed a previously nonexistent openness to serving as the Speaker of the House, thus making him second in line for the presidency, behind only the Vice President. This was the first time the U.S. Congressman expressed any willingness to serve in this oft-targeted position.
Representative Ryan will have to face a sizable sum of Republican voters who feel that he lacks the necessary conservative credentials to serve in this important Congressional position. The race for the House Speaker has been especially contentious this year, after Representative John Boehner's resignation. Because of the high profile nature of the position, and the potential for backlash (eg. the ouster of Eric Cantor), many have shied away from the position. Representative Kevin McCarthy was seen by many as the obvious choice for the Speaker position, yet he later bowed out to the hard-line faction of the party who opposed his leadership.
Ryan told reporters, "I came to the conclusion that this is a very dire moment -- not just for Congress, not just for the Republican Party, but for our country. And I think our country is in desperate need of leadership."
According to CNN, Ryan told House Republicans that he would be willing to run for the position, but only if certain terms were met. He says he will only run for the House Speaker if he recieves support from the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee and the Tuesday Group, three influential groups within the House Republican conference.
The Representative from Wisconson also wants make it harder to overthrow a sitting speaker,and a better balance between his work and personal life than the previous speaker John Boehner. We'll continue to keep you posted on more political, off-keynews right here on Music Times.
