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Paul Ryan secures enough votes to become House Speaker Paul Ryan secures enough votes to become House Speaker
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Paul Ryan is on the verge of becoming the next Speaker of the House after a super-majority of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus agreed to vote for him, while stopping short of a formal endorsement.Paul Ryan is on the verge of becoming the next Speaker of the House after a super-majority of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus agreed to vote for him, while stopping short of a formal endorsement.
Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee and current chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, had on Tuesday put himself forward conditionally as a compromise candidate to replace John Boehner as Speaker. He said he would only run if he received the endorsement of the Tea Party-affiliated Freedom Caucus in addition to the conservative Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group. Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee, had put himself forward conditionally as a compromise candidate to replace John Boehner as Speaker. A policy wonk who had achieved his dream job as chair of the House of Ways and Means Committee, Ryan had long been reluctant to stand for Speaker.
The support of the latter two groups was a purely pro forma request, but the challenge for Ryan was the Freedom Caucus, made up of the 40 Tea Party Republicans who helped push Boehner out of office and served an immovable road block to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s chances of succeeding the Ohio Republican. McCarthy, citing the party’s fractures, dropped out of contention earlier in October. The Wisconsin Republican decided to run after it became clear he was the only candidate with a chance of uniting the fractious House Republican conference and avoiding a leadership battle on the floor of Congress. But he said he would require the endorsement of the Tea Party-affiliated Freedom Caucus in addition to the conservative Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group.
The dilemma for Ryan was that while roughly 70% of the Freedom Caucus’s members agreed to support him, that was not sufficient for an endorsement. Under the group’s bylaws four-fifths of its members are needed to make an endorsement. Members of the Freedom Caucus insisted that, as a result, their support of Ryan was not an endorsement. Instead, their previous endorsement of Florida Republican Dan Webster still stood and the group was only supporting Ryan. After lengthy talks on Wednesday, 70% of Freedom Caucus members agreed to vote for Ryan – but that was not sufficient for a full endorsement, which requires the approval of four-fifths.
With 70% of the Freedom Caucus behind him, Ryan has more than enough votes to become Speaker and avoid a deadlock on the House floor. The question is whether he considers support from a supermajority to be equal to the endorsement he demanded as a condition of running for Speaker. If so, the Wisconsin Republican will become second in line to the presidency sometime next week. If not Capitol Hill faces being plunged into political chaos. Instead the group’s previous endorsement of Florida Republican Dan Webster stands and the Freedom Caucus says it is simply supporting Ryan. Michigan Republican Justin Amash explained: “We haven’t rescinded any endorsement. We had a vote today simply on whether we support Paul Ryan to be Speaker and that was the subject matter.”
Ryan ignored getting into details in a brief statement on Wednesday night. “I’m grateful for the support of a supermajority of the Freedom Caucus,” Ryan said. “I look forward to hearing from the two other caucuses by the end of the week but I believe this is a positive step towards a unified Republican team.”
The support of the Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group was a purely pro forma request, with Ryan’s biggest challenge being the Freedom Caucus – made up of the 40 Tea Party Republicans who helped push Boehner out of office, and served as an immovable roadblock to Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker. McCarthy, citing the party’s fractures, dropped out of contention earlier in October.
Members of the Freedom Caucus stressed their support of Ryan was not an endorsement. Raul Labrador of Idaho told reporters: “This is not an endorsement, it’s a supermajority support.”
They also insisted they had not accepted preconditions Ryan had set, including altering congressional procedure to change the requirements for a motion to vacate. Currently the incumbent Speaker can be removed by a simple majority.
Freedom Caucus member David Brat of Virginia had told the Guardian before the group met with Ryan on Wednesday afternoon that there were a variety of options for his fellow Tea Party Republicans, and that the vote might not just be about an endorsement. “It’s in play in the sense you can have 80% on a whole range of questions. You’re just assuming there’s one question.”
Freedom Caucus member Mo Brooks of Alabama met with Ryan on Wednesday and said the evident sole candidate “would be somewhat thankful if he did not have to be Speaker of the House”.
The negotiations – more akin to forming a coalition government in a European country – mark a major change in norms in American politics. The California Democrat John Garamendi reflected earlier on Wednesday: “The House of Representatives is a parliament. It’s not your fifth-grade textbook civics class. It’s a parliament in which the long tradition is a majority party, more or less unified, is able to govern. It’s now more akin to a Israeli Knesset where you have multiple parties.”
With the Freedom Caucus backing Ryan on Wednesday night, a coalition of sorts had finally been formed on Capitol Hill.