The head of a national tea party group urged lawmakers Monday to stop Rep. Paul Ryan from being tapped as the next House speaker, saying the Wisconsin Republican’s legislative record “is anything but conservative.”
Mr. Ryan is considered one of the few lawmakers that could win enough support from both the moderate and conservative wings of the GOP to replace outgoing House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio.
But Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, called on members of the House Freedom Caucus, which helped derail House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid this month, to rally around a conservative alternative to Mr. Ryan.
“Congressman Paul Ryan is now being looked to by many moderate Republicans, D.C. talking heads, and even Speaker John Boehner himself as the right man to try to bring the Republican conference together,” Ms. Martin said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Mr. Ryan’s record is anything but conservative — and he is not the best candidate to be Speaker.”
Ms. Martin said Mr. Ryan’s support of, among other things, No Child Left Behind, and Medicare Part D, as well as the Wall Street bailout and increases in the nation’s borrowing limit show he is “no different than John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy, whom grassroots conservatives and the GOP conference have already rejected.”
The comments came a day after Rep. Jim Jordan, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said that his group has endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida, but that it would also “look favorably” on Mr. Ryan.
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“Paul Ryan is a good man,” Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, said. “He’s a great communicator, the kind of messenger I think our party needs. And certainly, if he gets in the race, I think our group would look favorably on him.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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