After the chaos of Thursday afternoon’s abortive vote to choose a Republican nominee to replace John Boehner as speaker of the House of Representatives, momentum grew behind a campaign to draft the former vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan to the job.
In the aftermath of majority leader Kevin McCarthy’s shock withdrawal from contention, Ryan issued a statement denying any interest in running for the job himself.
“While I am grateful for the encouragement I’ve received,” he said, “I will not be a candidate. I continue to believe I can best serve the country and this conference as chairman of the ways and means committee.”
During a House vote Thursday afternoon, however, Ryan could be seen talking with Trey Gowdy – the chair of the select committee on Benghazi who was touted by some to become majority leader, back when McCarthy looked all but set to take the speaker’s gavel. On Ryan’s other side was Representative Peter Roskam, also considered a potential leadership candidate.
Ryan could be seen speaking animatedly. At one point, he appeared to lean back and sigh with exasperation.
McCarthy announced he was dropping out of the race for speaker in a noon meeting of the Republican House conference, a move which “stunned” the room.
“I’ve been a fan of Paul Ryan since before any of this,” Gowdy told reporters including the Guardian outside the House chamber.
Asked if he thought Ryan would run, Gowdy said: “I’m going to let Paul speak for himself. He’s uniquely gifted and qualified for the position.” He also described Ryan, noted in the House for his expertise on budgetary matters, as “the smartest kid in the class”.
Asked who could unify the party, Gowdy referred to Pope Francis when he said: “Either [Ryan] or the fellow who just went back to Italy.”
Justin Amash, a founding member of the “freedom caucus” – the group of hard-right House Republicans whose backing of Daniel Webster may have precipitated McCarthy’s exit from the race – told the Guardian: “There are a couple of individuals, Trey Gowdy and Paul Ryan, who would be acceptable to the whole conference.”
Gowdy has forcefully said on numerous occasions that he is not interested in any leadership positions.
Sources reportedly told the Washington Post, meanwhile, that Boehner had called Ryan twice to ask him to run for speaker. Ryan was reportedly “undecided but listening”.
Politico reported that the former vice-presidential candidate from Wisconsin – who ran with Mitt Romney in 2012 – had cancelled all of his fundraisers for the next 48 hours.
Short of Gowdy and Ryan, it seems increasingly unlikely that any candidate for speaker will be able to muster the 218 Republican votes needed in a floor vote currently scheduled for 29 October.
If none of them can get there, Boehner may be forced to stay on until a new candidate can be found.
