Speaker Paul D. Ryan said the leadership team has left House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s seat vacant in their meetings.
“We’re keeping his seat right here vacant until he returns. Most of us here have gone to see him or spoken to him, and he’s making a very good recovery,” Mr. Ryan said in an interview aired Wednesday on Fox News.
Mr. Scalise is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound he received during the shooting at a practice for the Congressional Baseball Game. He was one of those wounded when a gunmen opened fire at the baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, earlier this month.
Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, also said that the leadership team isn’t slowing down, and is actually trying to move quickly and embrace their opportunity in the majority.
“We have this opportunity, and we cannot blow it,” he said. “That’s why we’re moving so quickly.”
At a House leadership meeting, Mr. Ryan set the agenda for the week with a medical malpractice bill and two immigration reform bills.
He said that governing in the majority is easier for Republicans now than it was in the days of the Obama administration.
“I think it’s easier. It’s also exciting, and it gives you optimism because you get a chance to do things. With President Obama, we disagreed on so many things — we had to make government work, but it wasn’t to the end we liked. But with President Trump, the sky is the limit,” Mr. Ryan said.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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