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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPaul Ryan rumored to be retiring after 2018 midterms.
Spirits were high inside the House chamber on Thursday, November 16, when, in the early afternoon, the gavel fell and a measure to rewrite the American tax code passed on a partisan tally of 227 to 205. As the deciding votes were castrecorded in green on the black digital scoreboard suspended above the floorthe speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, threw his head back and slammed his hands together. Soon he was engulfed in a sea of dark suits, every Republican lawmaker wanting to slap him on the shoulder and be a part of his moment.
Ryan was the man of the hour. Having spent a quarter-century in Washingtonas an intern, waiter, junior think-tanker, Hill staffer and, since 1999, as a member of Congresshe had never wavered in his obsession with fixing what he viewed as the nations two fundamental weaknesses: its Byzantine tax system and ballooning entitlement state. Now, with House Republicans celebrating the once-in-a-generation achievement of a tax overhaul, Ryan was feeling both jubilant and relievedand a little bit greedy. Reveling in the afterglow, Ryan remarked to several colleagues how this day had proven they could accomplish difficult thingsand that next year, they should set their sights on an even tougher challenge: entitlement reform. The speaker has since gone public with this aspiration, suggesting that 2018 should be the year Washington finally tackles what he sees as the systemic problems with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Tinkering with the social safety net is a bold undertaking, particularly in an election year. But Ryan has good reason for throwing caution to the wind: His time in Congress is running short.
Despite several landmark legislative wins this year, and a better-than-expected relationship with President Donald Trump, Ryan has made it known to some of his closest confidants that this will be his final term as speaker. He consults a small crew of family, friends and staff for career advice, and is always cautious not to telegraph his political maneuvers. But the expectation of his impending departure has escaped the hushed confines of Ryans inner circle and permeated the upper-most echelons of the GOP. In recent interviews with three dozen people who know the speakerfellow lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyistsnot a single person believed Ryan will stay in Congress past 2018.
Ryan was tiring of D.C. even before reluctantly accepting the speakership. He told his predecessor, John Boehner, that it would be his last job in politicsand that it wasnt a long-term proposition. In the months following Trumps victory, he began contemplating the scenarios of his departure. More recently, over closely held conversations with his kitchen cabinet, Ryans preference has become clear: He would like to serve through Election Day 2018 and retire ahead of the next Congress. This would give Ryan a final legislative year to chase his second white whale, entitlement reform, while using his unrivaled fundraising prowess to help protect the House majorityall with the benefit of averting an ugly internecine power struggle during election season. Ryan has never loved the job; he oozes aggravation when discussing intra-party debates over micro-tactics," and friends say he feels like hes running a daycare center. On a personal level, going home at the end of next year would allow Ryan, who turns 48 next month, to keep promises to family; his three children are in or entering their teenage years, and Ryan, whose father died at 55, wants desperately to live at home with them full-time before they begin flying the nest. The best part of this scenario, people close to the speaker emphasize: He wouldnt have to share the ballot with Trump again in 2020.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/14/paul-ryan-retire-speaker-ready-leave-washington-216103
still_one
(92,217 posts)BannonsLiver
(16,396 posts)And wants to spare himself the trauma of having to hand over the gavel to Pelosi, or worse, getting beat by Randy Bryce.
Terminally_Chill
(76 posts)as the Year of the Punchable Faces..
crazylikafox
(2,758 posts)This "wanting to spend time with his family" nonsense makes me ill. At least if he leaves that will help drain the swamp.
Siwsan
(26,267 posts)He will have lifetime healthcare, a good pension and lower tax rates. Oh, and I seem to remember something about his approval rating being perhaps not the best.
mopinko
(70,120 posts)Last edited Thu Dec 14, 2017, 08:10 PM - Edit history (1)
keep on keepin on paulie. make it tough on your own party to have someone up and running for your seat.
i approve this message.
DeminPennswoods
(15,286 posts)seems like he's heading for the exit.
sunonmars
(8,656 posts)crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)Retrograde
(10,137 posts)of his role as Speaker of the House? Of pushing through a tax bill that will destroy the economy but whose provisions conveniently don't kick in until after he'd be gone?
Orsino
(37,428 posts)genxlib
(5,528 posts)as soon as he gets the tax cuts in place.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,023 posts)That gig pays better than being a congressman.
Leith
(7,809 posts)Living off his taxpayer funded pension with complete healthcare package.
How does a diehard randian reconcile that blatant hypocrisy?
book_worm
(15,951 posts)PdxSean
(574 posts)Just as he plotted to become Speaker of the House while pretending to not want the position, my sources, including my cousins Pookie and Knuck-Knuck, say Ryan likely has information that leads him to believe Trump and Pence will be impeached. Fearing accusations of ambition when the House is finally forced to impeach Trump and Pence, Ryan is spreading rumors of his pending retirement. Nah, he'll cry, I was gonna retire, see. Ok, well if you really think I should, I'll make yet another sacrifice for my country and assume the presidency.
Regardless, the current line of succession is uuuuuugly:
1. Vice President Pence
2. House Speaker Paul Ryan
3. President pro tempore of the Senate Orrin Hatch
4. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
5. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
mfcorey1
(11,001 posts)of his home! Dirty b@#$%#d!