Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) has told Nevada Newsmakers that “rumor has it” that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) will be resigning soon.
“The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new Speaker,” referring to the Majority Whip from Louisiana.
He added that Republican lawmakers may be less than delighted about a possible Speaker Scalise.
“Now that is interesting, because no one has talked to members on how they are going to vote,” he added. “Now, maybe they have talked to all of the members but me. I don’t know, so that is the rumor mill from last week.”
When asked why Ryan would resign, Amodei said this.
“[…] if that’s possibly true, it could mean that Ryan might want to play on the national stage in some capacity or another. I don’t know what that could mean.”
And this.
“If I was just guessing, he wanted to do the tax bill. You know, [former Speaker] John Boehner said the same thing: ‘Hey, when I checked all of the boxes I thought were important and I’m moving on to whatever else.'”
As The Hill pointed out, it’s still a rumor but…
“But the on-the-record comments from a Republican lawmaker — and the suggestion that Ryan could resign before the midterms — made waves on Monday, briefly crashing the Nevada Newsmakers website.”
Ryan’s office is denying the rumor, according to Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong (via The Hill), and Steve Scalise’s office is denying that he is eyeballing the Speaker’s gavel.
Because these clowns never lie, you know, so of course it’s a life…a LIE, I tell you!!!
Here’s a statement from Scalise’s office.
“Whip Scalise is proud to serve alongside Speaker Ryan and fully supports him to remain Speaker,” said Lauren Fine, Scalise’s spokeswoman. “Our whole leadership team is focused on working with President Trump to deliver more conservative wins for the country, and also ensuring we keep the majority so we can continue implementing President Trump’s agenda that is getting our economy back on track.”
Yawn.
Another possible reason for Ryan’s looming (we hope, I think) resignation? The midterms. Midterms have historically fared poorly for the party in power. It will also be no fun to be a House Republican (and Ryan for sure won’t be Speaker) if Democrats capture the House as we all hope they will.
It should be noted that thus far, Ryan has declined to state whether or not he will be running for re-election. He said on Face the Nation that he and his wife will decide in the spring if he will run or not.
Amodei was asked if Ryan may be stepping down so that he can take on a role in the Trump administration. His response was hilarious.
“I’m speculating from at least as far as you are, and my speculation is this: The White House and Paul Ryan would not be a good fit, how’s that for a direct answer?”
Delightfully direct! Oh but would his leader be as direct as he is…
Amodei added this little gem.
“Paul was a #neverTrumper for a while, and then they kinda made up, and heck, even when they talked about the omnibus spending bill, Paul Ryan was down at the White House, Trump was mad about there not being more wall money in there. So, I would be very surprised if there were any open arms for coming into the administration.”
Aw, heck. Likely folks like Mr. Amodei will be part of the driving force behind Ryan’s decision. Imaging dealing with these yokels on the regular.
You can listen to the Nevade Newsmakers podcast to hear all of the statements.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore on Flickr
