House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s Republican colleagues on Wednesday said Mr. Ryan’s legacy will be tied to the newly enacted $1.5 trillion tax-cut law he helped write, as well as his reputation as a “policy wonk” dating to his days as chairman of the House Budget Committee.
They also acknowledged, though, that the tax cuts and other federal spending could leave lawmakers with a sea of red ink to try to grapple with over the coming decade, despite Mr. Ryan’s long-held goal of reining in federal debt and deficits through entitlement reform.
Rep. Diane Black, Tennessee Republican, said it’s a “sad day” because the House is going to be losing Mr. Ryan’s knowledge as a policy wonk with the Wisconsin Republican’s announcement Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election this year.
“He is now ready to move on to be a more full-time father to his family, and I honor that,” she said. “America is better off because Paul Ryan has served this country.”
“I think people will always remember him as somebody who is a policy wonk and who was concerned about spending in our country,” she said. “And tax reform was something that he felt from a very young age of getting into politics that needed to be done, and I think he’s going to be remembered for both of those things.”
Rep. Mark Walker, North Carolina Republican, pointed to tax reform and rebuilding the military as areas Mr. Ryan cited as major accomplishments.
He also predicted that Mr. Ryan would push forward on entitlement reforms before he leaves.
“I think he’s going to work every day, every way that he can to be able to resolve some of that,” said Mr. Walker, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of House conservatives.
Rep. Mark Meadows, North Carolina Republican, said it wasn’t the best day to try for a broad-based evaluation of Mr. Ryan’s tenure as speaker.
“I think if you look at the most comprehensive tax reform package that we’ve had in decades, he gets an ’A’ for that,” said Mr. Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, another group of conservatives.
Mr. Meadows did say Mr. Ryan has been responsive to concerns from his party’s right flank — one of conservatives’ main gripes with former Speaker John A. Boehner.
“I have meetings with the speaker on a regular basis, and can always pick up the phone and talk to him about what the conservatives want and need,” Mr. Meadows said. “The real question that comes is, how do we make sure that becomes part of an agenda?”
Mr. Ryan himself said Wednesday that tax reform, along with rebuilding the military through the recent $1.3 trillion spending bill, will be “lasting victories” that will benefit the country for years to come.
He said he was proud that the House managed to act on entitlement reform, but said there’s still more work to be done in that area, which budget analysts generally agree is the main driver of an ever-increasing federal debt.
“Of course, more work needs to be done and it really is entitlements,” he told reporters. “That’s where the work needs to be done and I’m going to keep fighting for that.”
Before his time as speaker, the House had ratified Mr. Ryan’s budget blueprints, which envisioned major long-term changes to government programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
The House also passed a bill last year that repealed parts of Obamacare, which Mr. Ryan and other GOP leaders had billed as major entitlement reform.
But the Senate could never coalesce around an Obamacare repeal bill, though the tax-cut bill did knock out one of the health law’s central pillars in the individual mandate.
Still, Rep. Walter Jones, North Carolina Republican, said part of Mr. Ryan’s legacy will be overseeing an ever-increasing federal debt.
“The tax bill’s not paid for,” Mr. Jones said, noting that independent budget watchdogs have said it could add as much as $2 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.
He also said that either way, Congress wasn’t shaping up to do much for the rest of the year.
“I’m not sure we would have done much if he didn’t make the announcement today,” Mr. Jones said. “We haven’t done much at all.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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