New House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday that he was not concerned that his speakership could negatively affect a potential White House run, because he was not all that interested in being president.
“That’s OK with me,” Mr. Ryan told correspondent Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “If I really wanted to be president, I would’ve run in this cycle. I had the chance and opportunity to do that. I’m happy with this decision.”
As speaker, he said he is ready to meet with President Obama.
One major area of disagreement — immigration reform. Mr. Ryan accused Mr. Obama of trying to write immigration reform laws himself, an action that “went beyond the separation of powers.”
“We cannot trust this president on this issue,” he said.
Mr. Ryan said his new priorities are reorganizing how legislation is proposed in the House and ensuring that all members of Congress get an opportunity to have their amendments considered fairly — a point of contention for about 40 far-right members of the House Freedom Caucus.
Freedom Caucus members were instrumental in former Speaker John Boehner’s resignation, as well as California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s withdrawal from the speaker’s race. They had backed Rep. Daniel Webster, Florida Republican, for the post because he put emphasis on “natural order” governing.
Mr. Ryan said he shared the Freedom Caucus’ frustrations with Mr. Boehner’s process.
“I think members are frustrated that they didn’t have the opportunity to discuss their views on the floor,” he said, citing a process that was “too controlled” to allow for equal-opportunity participation in the legislative process.
He also said that he would be pushing for an investigation of Planned Parenthood after videos were released that showed employees of the women’s health organization discussing payments for selling fetal tissue to research groups. He said that ending federal funding for the organization also would be a top priority.
“I don’t think Planned Parenthood should get a red cent from the taxpayers,” he said. “I believed that before these disgusting videos came out.”
He said he will establish a special committee to investigate the group, similar to the panel Mr. Boehner set up to investigate the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
On a lighter note, Mr. Ryan — a resident of Janesville, Wisconsin, who is known for his tendency to sleep in his office rather than rent an apartment in Washington — said he would continue to do so as speaker.
“Yes, I sleep in my office. I just work here [Washington, D.C.], I don’t live here. It makes me more efficient,” he said with a smile. “I can get more work done sleeping on a cot in my office. I’ve been doing it for more than a decade.”
• Anjali Shastry can be reached at ashastry@washingtontimes.com.
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