The leadership turmoil in the U.S. House of Representatives has now turned into a game of waiting for Ryan.
Numerous members of the House, including Coweta County Republican U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, have floated their names as the successor to outgoing Speaker John Boehner, but many of them are reluctant to make a move until U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., decides whether he'll take the job.
“So I think mainly nobody’s wanting to commit to anybody,” Westmoreland said Thursday in a phone interview from Augusta. “And it’s just really, there’s going to probably be 10 or 12 names in the hat if Paul doesn’t do it.”
Westmoreland said the “word is that we’re not going to hear anything until sometime next week.”
For now, the lawmakers remain on break, and Westmoreland says they are mostly spending that time not answering their phones to talk about the open job to run the place.
“I think everything is just kind of in a holding pattern,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Tom Price, a Roswell Republican, had been running for the majority leader post, but Price has not made moves since U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., decided to remain majority leader rather than run for speaker.
Price has said that electing an interim speaker through next year's elections would be the best move, and he has not publicly indicated an interest in the post. In a thank-you note to his close backers in the majority leader race, Price wished them "a wonderful week away from the madness."
Under pressure from his right flank, Boehner announced last month that he would resign as speaker at the end of October. McCarthy was the heir apparent, but he abruptly withdrew his candidacy as the internal House GOP vote was about to begin. Boehner then postponed the vote indefinitely and said he would stay on until the House picks a successor, as long as it takes.
Republicans quickly turned their attention to Ryan, wildly popular within the House GOP and the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2012. But Ryan has given no real indication thus far that he will run, and the far right has stepped up pre-emptive attacks on Ryan’s record — which is mostly in line with the current crop of leadership.
"I like Paul Ryan personally, but I believe that if he were to be elected Speaker we will see a continuation of Boehner policies," former Athens Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, who now is back to practicing medicine, wrote in a fundraising email for a coalition of conservative pressure groups that started FirePaulRyan.com.
If Ryan stays out, the field is a jumble.
U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., and U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, were the already-declared candidates against McCarthy, who realized he could not unite the House GOP in his corner when the conservative House Freedom Caucus backed Webster.
Before Congress split town, Westmoreland met with fellow Southern members to try to feel out the race. Other Southerners who could jump in, Westmoreland said, include U.S. Reps. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Tom Cole of Oklahoma and Jeff Miller of Florida.
Then there’s Texas, “an independent nation,” as Westmoreland put it. U.S. Rep. Bill Flores sent an email to colleagues this week saying he is “considering pursuit of the Speakership” but only if Ryan does not run. Fellow Texans Michael McCaul and Mike Conaway are weighing bids as well. With 25 Republicans, the Texas delegation constitutes serious weight if it can come together behind one candidate.
Another off-the-wall idea: A speaker is not legally required to be a member of the House, and Newt Gingrich, the former speaker and longtime Georgia representative, said he would consider returning if asked.
Westmoreland said if Ryan declines, he figures the field will winnow once Texas settles on one of its own and the Southern coalition decides on one candidate aside from Webster — who will stick it out as long as he has the Freedom Caucus.
That group of a few-dozen hard-liners has held outsized sway on the process. Its members, which include freshman GOP U.S. Reps. Jody Hice of Monroe and Barry Loudermilk of Cassville, say they want to change the procedures of the House to more empower rank-and-file members.
“The American people want to see a change in the culture in Washington, D.C.,” Loudermilk said the day after McCarthy withdrew.
“It’s not going to be a person, because people come and go,” Loudermilk said. “If we can change the process, we can change the rules, that favors every individual congressman. Everybody has equal access to bring a bill to the floor. Everybody has the ability to speak their mind, have their ideas heard. That’s what we’re looking for.”
House leaders are planning meetings to discuss possible rules changes when they return.
“If we take a step back and see we’re just going through a purification process, we’re correcting ourselves as we go,” Loudermilk said. “And I think in the long run, it’s going to empower us.”
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