http://www.newsmax.com/PrintTemplate.aspx/?nodeid=696935Newsmax
Sources: Paul Ryan Considering Speakership
Monday, October 19, 2015 12:42 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Republican Rep. Paul Ryan reportedly hasn't ruled out a bid to become speaker of a sharply divided House, as lawmakers return to Congress to deal with contentious issues, including a long-term budget,raising the debt ceiling and a crackdown on sanctuary cities.
CBS News reports Ryan is now open to leading the Republican conference and seriously considering a run at the Speaker post — if it comes with no strings attached by the conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus, which wants to siphon power from leadership.
"He's not going to go to the Freedom Caucus and say, 'I'll do this and this' ... otherwise you've sold yourself to them from the very beginning, and set yourself up for failure," an unnamed source tells CBS News.
"He still really, really does not want to do this. He has his dream job [as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee]. If he's speaker, his whole career path changes. He's not going to make concessions to get a job he didn't want in the first place."
The test comes Wednesday, according to CBS News, when House Republicans are likely to meet behind closed doors — and air their views on the subject — and where it's expected Ryan will speak.
"Can the rest of the members handle that heat [from conservative critics]?" one source asks CBS News. "Has the Paul Ryan boomlet gotten old? Can the other 200 convince the 40 to do the right thing? The answers to those questions will be instructive."
"He's never going to set himself up to fail ... he's not going to try to force it, or he'll be in the same situation as [outgoing Speaker John] Boehner is in, or [House Majority Leader Kevin] McCarthy would have been — and he'll have given up his dream job."
Freedom Caucus member Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana tells CBS News "until we find out who's running and interview the candidates, we're non-committal at this time."
But South Carolina Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, was more blunt, saying in an interview posted to Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Audio Vault, posted by BuzzFeed News last week, that "you don’t just win because you’re Paul Ryan."
Other House Republicans who have expressed interest in running include Texas Reps. Mike McCaul, Rep. Mike Conaway and Pete Sessions, along with Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Webster.
The Hill notes amid the drama over the next Speaker, Congress has just 10 legislative days to raise the debt ceiling, which would allow the government to meet its financial obligations and avoid a default that that would potential upset global stock markets.
Meanwhile, a returning Senate will turn to a bill to crackdown on sanctuary cities, The Hill reports.
The legislation from Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter would limit federal funding and also increase jail time for an undocumented immigrant if they reenter the United States after previously being deported.
