Paul Ryan exits as potential hazards lurk on the horizon
House Speaker Paul Ryan announced he would not run for re-election in Washington on April 11. Credit: AP / J. Scott Applewhite
Family provides the typical alibi for elected officials departing under duress. So skepticism abounded when House Speaker Paul Ryan explained last week why he will forgo re-election.
“I have accomplished much of what I came here to do, and my kids aren’t getting any younger,” said Ryan (R-Wis.).
But Ryan had to know the troubles his staying on might bring him.
Potential future hazards lurk. They included discontent in Ryan’s Republican conference, the threat of Democrats capturing the House in November, and President Donald Trump.
Ryan denies that hostilities with fellow Republican Trump — buried since the 2016 election — were a factor.
Still, the praise he offers the GOP chief executive has been noticeably faint.
“I’m grateful that we have a unified government that the president’s victory gave us,” Ryan said last week.
“He’s given us the incredible opportunity to get a lot of good things done,” Ryan added Tuesday on CNBC.
The president demonstrates only the weakest grasp of legislative detail. That could only mean Ryan and GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were leaders in cherishing this “opportunity to get a lot of good things done.”
All Trump had to do was affix his signature, as he did with the big tax bill that takes effect with next year’s returns.
The two camps also collaborated on deregulation.
But the Ryan message still doesn’t really match the Trump message. The divergence could have become more obvious as time went by.
Efforts at a clean, clear repeal and replacement of Obamacare failed. For all his willingness to entertain proposals, Ryan has not seen eye-to-eye with Trump on a border wall or certain immigration restrictions, infrastructure or protective tariffs.
In October, the speaker met with malcontents in his conference, who in consultation with former White House aide Steve Bannon reportedly warned they could desert him if the House failed to enact certain conservative policies.
Since the 2010 tea party rise, it seems to some Washington observers that the speakership lacked the internal clout it once held. Whether that’s true, there is no guarantee Ryan’s Republicans won’t be thrust into the minority in November as the Democrats were eight years ago.
For Ryan, who took the reins only two and a half years ago, the timing may be perfect.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
