WASHINGTON
The man who House Speaker Paul Ryan routed in Wisconsin’s Republican primary is back, this time trying to win Ryan’s gavel.
Paul Nehlen said he’s launching a long shot bid for Speaker of the House of Representatives because Ryan has bowed to President Barack Obama’s agenda and “is openly working to undermine Donald Trump’s effort to regain the White House for Republicans.”
“Paul Ryan is the absolute last person who should be in charge of checking and balancing the executive branch of the federal government from the perspective of the federal legislature,” Nehlen said in a statement.
The U.S. Constitution doesn’t require House membership to be speaker, though a 2015 Congressional Research Service report said no one from outside chamber has ever held the job.
House members who’ve been unhappy with their choices for speaker in recent years have nominated and voted for the likes of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Nehlen ran against Ryan for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District seat in August. The race gained national attention after 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin vowed to help Nehlen in May after Ryan spoke critically about Trump.
In the end, Ryan crushed Nehlen by an 84-15 percent margin.
Needless to say, Nehlen’s bid for speaker is being met with some skepticism in Wisconsin and Washington.
October 26, 2016 ">
Asked about Nehlen’s announcement, AshLee Strong, a Ryan spokeswoman said “You should be embarrassed you’re writing about this.”
Nehlen’s improbable speaker bid comes as congressional Republicans are deeply-divided over Trump, with many supporting his campaign while others are distancing themselves from their party’s presidential nominee for controversial comments he’s made about women, and Mexican immigrants, and Muslims.
Ryan has received criticism from some House Republicans, conservative outside groups, and from Trump after he declared that he wouldn’t defend Trump anymore in the wake of a leaked 2005 video showed him bragging about handling women in ways that described sexual assault.
FreedomWorks, a non-profit group that advocates limited government, urged House Republican Conference members earlier this week to postpone holding a vote to select a candidate to be the next speaker until December. The vote is usually occurs right after the November elections.
“I think people are going to be even more angry after the election. Trump is going to blame it on somebody, and he’s going to start to blame it on Paul Ryan,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who lost his GOP primary election in August. “People are going to be angry at the House and Senate and will blame leadership. It’s going to come right back at Paul Ryan.”
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who also belongs to the 30-plus member Freedom Caucus, told North Carolina’s WAAV last week that “A lot of people who believe so desperately that we need to put Donald Trump in the White House – they question the loyalty of the speaker.”
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a Trump supporter and Ryan ally, said such intra-party feuding isn’t helpful with the presidential and congressional elections rapidly approaching, especially when it comes from the top of the ticket.
“With all due respect, I’ve been a Republican my whole life. I don’t need to be lectured about party loyalty by people who haven’t always been Republican, who’ve been on both sides,” Cole said Thursday. “That isn’t helpful. Almost all Republicans are going to be voting for Mr. Trump . . . so I don’t think worrying about losing before the contest is over gets you very far.”
EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE
So far, no House Republican has asked to delay the conference vote for speaker, according to a GOP leadership aide. And Ryan said before Congress recessed that “We're going to keep planning on doing things the way we've always done them when we come back from the elections, for the next session.”
Rep. Peter King R-N.Y., another Trump and Ryan supporter, said Ryan has strong support among House Republicans and should easily be re-elected speaker.
“There’s nobody who can do the job better,” King said. “Any element of our party, the Freedom Caucus or others, for them to say it’s my way or the highway, shows a lack of political sense.”