Rep. Paul Ryan is on the cusp of becoming House speaker after sewing up endorsements Thursday from key Republican factions, leaving him in good stead to have the support needed to claim the job when the whole House votes next week.
The centrist Tuesday Group and the influential conservative Republican Study Committee blessed Mr. Ryan’s bid, showing signs of unity from both sides of the political spectrum after months of internal party warfare.
Mr. Ryan has promised not to push for an immigration legalization bill while President Obama is in office, conceding to a key demand of rank-and-file Republicans who feared their leaders would force the issue.
The Wisconsin Republican also clarified his own demands, saying he wanted to overhaul, not scrap, a procedural tool that lets members oust a speaker in the middle of a session. It is a conservative Republican’s use of that procedure that has helped usher out John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.
“I think Paul’s in good shape,” said Rep. Charles W. Dent, Pennsylvania Republican and co-chairman of the Tuesday Group.
Mr. Ryan had been reluctant to give up his role as head of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and to forgo precious weekends with his family for a job that requires extensive fundraising and travel and that has proved to be perilous for Mr. Boehner. In order to be recruited as speaker, Mr. Ryan demanded unity from his colleagues.
SEE ALSO: Paul Ryan wins House Freedom Caucus support in speaker bid
Mr. Ryan officially announced his bid Thursday evening in a letter to colleagues in which he said he sensed a “hunger” to get to work.
“I know you’re willing to work hard and get it done, and I think this moment is ripe for real reform,” he wrote.
His big breakthrough came Wednesday after he met with the House Freedom Caucus, whose members launched the move to oust Mr. Boehner and whose demands for stiffer ideological stances ensnared the House.
One member, Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, said he realized some would accuse him and other caucus members of going “from being radical extremist crazies to Washington sellouts in 12 hours.”
“But maybe a more likely narrative is that we think this is really a good step for the conservative movement, and it’s up to us to try and explain that to people,” he said.
The Freedom Caucus officially endorsed another candidate, Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida, before Mr. Ryan entered the race. The Webster endorsement still stands, and some caucus members are not ready to relent.
“He is the only candidate for speaker who actually has a plan to change how this place is run,” Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Kansas Republican, told C-SPAN on Thursday.
Mr. Ryan is trying to earn the support of at least 218 Republicans, the threshold needed to win the speakership in a vote Oct. 29.
In trying to win support, Mr. Ryan pledged to colleagues that he would respect the “Hastert rule,” named for a former speaker who said he would bring bills to the floor only if a majority of House Republicans backed the measures.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, said the rule is getting in the way of the chamber’s busy fall agenda, including raising the debt limit and funding the government past Dec. 11.
“Hastert’s not even here anymore; it was never a rule,” Mrs. Pelosi said Thursday at her weekly press conference.
The White House, which often complains that Mr. Boehner can’t control House Republicans, expressed concern that Mr. Ryan is trying to unify those same lawmakers.
Observing that Mr. Ryan is seeking majority support from various House Republican factions, White House spokesman Eric Shultz said, “We hope that’s not a precursor of someone who wants to govern on a strictly partisan basis
“When we have divided government here in Washington, success only happens when Democrats and Republicans work together,” Mr. Schultz said. “We’ve seen House Republican leadership try and work only amongst themselves, and we’ve seen that not end well time and time again.”
Mrs. Pelosi said she is ready to welcome Mr. Ryan as speaker, assuming his bid isn’t derailed at the eleventh hour — a fate that befell Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, earlier this month.
But she took a veiled jab at Mr. Ryan for demanding time to visit his family, even as he opposes legislation that would force employers to guarantee paid family leave.
“I think that’s very exciting,” she said of his personal demand. “Because that’s what we want for all of America’s families.”
⦁ Dave Boyer and Seth McLaughlin contributed to this report.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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