A small but massively influential band of conservatives, including two freshman lawmakers from Georgia, helped pave the way Wednesday night to make U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan the next speaker of the House.
More than two-thirds of the House Freedom Caucus gave Ryan its support, but the figure fell short of the 80 percent required for the group’s full endorsement. Still, Ryan indicated that the unity he craves was at hand.
Ryan has “got the votes to be speaker, so we’ll see where he goes from here,” U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Monroe Republican, said as he emerged from the Freedom Caucus meeting.
In a prepared statement, Ryan said his bid will move forward: “I believe this is a positive step toward a unified Republican team.”
The Freedom Caucus met with Ryan on Wednesday, one day after Ryan announced that he would save the House from its leadership turmoil, but only if House Republicans all get behind him and meet some demands.
The group of about 40 Republicans has demands of its own, asking for a less centralized process in the House and a more aggressive conservative direction.
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Cassville, Georgia’s other Freedom Caucus member, said he supported Ryan.
“He agreed with us that the institution has shifted from being a member-driven institution to a leadership-driven institution, and he has committed to change that,” Loudermilk said. “… With the process and the policies in place, it doesn’t matter as much who (the speaker) is.”
Hice said he did not support Ryan in the internal vote but remains undecided for the GOP votes scheduled for next week.
“He said a lot of great things but I’m still weighing it out, so I’m not sure at this point,” Hice said.
Newly formed this year, the Freedom Caucus includes some of the most conservative members of the House Republican conference, those most likely to vote against GOP leadership. Loudermilk said Republicans must be able to do so without fear of retribution. Though outgoing Speaker John Boehner has been reluctant to punish recalcitrant Republicans, he and his allies do occasionally crack the whip.
The caucus’ members represent some of the most right-leaning territory in the country, stacked with tea party activists who object to Ryan. That includes Hice’s predecessor, former Athens U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, who lent his name to an effort to “Fire Paul Ryan.”
A major objection was Ryan’s prior support for an immigration bill that would allow a path to legal status for people living in the U.S. illegally. He pledged not to push such a bill as speaker.
The Freedom Caucus’ support is critical for Ryan, who has said he requires party unity. Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said Wednesday afternoon that meant an endorsement from the Freedom Caucus, along with the conservative Republican Study Committee and the moderate Tuesday Group.
Among Ryan’s conditions to take the job are a change in the rules that now allow a bare majority of House members to vote out the speaker, meaning a few dozen members of the majority party can combine with a united minority to do it. Some Freedom Caucus members had held the “motion to vacate the chair” over Boehner as a threat if he crossed conservatives. Under pressure, Boehner announced last month that he would leave Congress.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was seen as the all-but-guaranteed successor, but he abruptly withdrew from the race as the internal GOP vote was about to begin Oct. 8. A key factor for McCarthy was the Freedom Caucus endorsing U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., instead.
Webster has said he will remain in the speaker’s race, with elections now set for next week, starting with an internal House GOP vote and followed by a vote on the floor requiring 218 votes. Assuming no Democratic support, that means a winning Republican cannot lose more than 29 votes. There are about 40 members of the Freedom Caucus, but there is no formal roster.
After McCarthy dropped out, speculation quickly centered on Ryan as the only Republican who could get to 218. The 45-year-old star, the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2012, was reluctant to take on the speaker’s job. Aside from enjoying his post as the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, a contentious term as speaker would not boost his possible presidential ambitions.
Ryan reluctantly agreed to do it in a speech to colleagues Tuesday night in which he laid out his conditions, including time at home with his family in Wisconsin rather than traveling the country raising money. He said he would use the position to articulate a big-picture Republican vision more than managing bills on the floor.
Several Georgia Republicans quickly rallied behind him, including Coweta County U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, who had been mounting a speaker campaign of his own if Ryan declined to run.
“I’m out, he’s in, brother,” Westmoreland said.
Some Ryan fans rolled their eyes at the Freedom Caucus.
“What do they want?” asked U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, a Pooler Republican.
U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, a Lawrenceville Republican, said it’s “nonsense” to say the caucus is in turmoil, and he praised Boehner, McCarthy and Ryan for putting the good of the country ahead of consolidating political power. But he still chafed at the approach of the tea party crowd.
“Nine times out of 10 we’re not talking about policy, we’re talking about tactics when we disagree with one another,” Woodall told Jamie Dupree of Cox Media Group.
“And you can only have one play caller,” Woodall said. “I’m going to fight hard for the families back home behind closed doors. But when a decision is made, I’m going to come out and support that decision because at the end of the day those families back home are going to be better off if we’re moving the needle forward than if we’re just bickering amongst ourselves.”
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