Issa: Paul Ryan is the "consensus choice" for House speaker
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan would be an "amazing" speaker of the House, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said on Friday -- just a day after giving up his own bid for the job.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, told CBS News' Nancy Cordes that Ryan is the GOP's "consensus choice" to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "The fact is Paul Ryan is the right man right now. He has moderate support and he very clearly has conservative support," Issa said.
Even House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz -- who is himself still a candidate for speaker -- said Friday that he would get out of the race if Ryan wanted the job.
"If Paul Ryan got in, I'd absolutely back him," Chaffetz said. "Part of the reason I got in the race is Paul's not doing it."
That, however, is the problem -- Ryan hasn't thrown his hat in the ring. In fact, soon after McCarthy dropped out of the running, Ryan said flatly he isn't interested in the job. "While I am grateful for the encouragement I've received, I will not be a candidate," he said in a statement.
Ryan's spokesman Brendan Buck said Friday, "Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he's getting from his colleagues but is still not running for speaker."
Chaffetz pointed out it's not enough for the rest of the GOP to want Ryan to serve as speaker.
"He's also got to want it," he said. "He's got to have that internal discussion with himself and his wife and his kids - it's a hard, hard job."
While Ryan has said he's not interested in leading the House, Issa said it is his "impression" that Ryan is going to take the weekend to think it over.
Issa explained why someone like Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential candidate and currently the House Budget Committee chairman, wouldn't want to serve as speaker: "You get the honor of making a speech before they tar and feather you."
Even so, Ryan received a call from 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday, telling him he needs to be speaker, according to Rep. Fred Upton, R-Michigan.
After McCarthy - currently the No. 2 Republican in the House - unexpectedly dropped out of the race for speaker, the House leadership elections were thrown into disarray. The House Republican conference was expected to vote for its nominee on Thursday, but after McCarthy dropped out, the vote was canceled. The full House was expected to vote for speaker on October 29, but now it's unclear when the election may take place.
Boehner announced last month that he plans to step down and resign from Congress at the end of October, but without a successor in place, he may end up staying at the helm longer than that.
While Issa said Ryan was the "consensus choice," other rank-and-file House members who emerged from a special closed-door conference meeting Friday morning said there was no clear path forward. Inside the meeting, Republicans said there was no talk of a potential Ryan run, and they said Ryan did not speak at all.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, who offered a resolution over the summer to vacate the speaker's chair, said Ryan would be a "very credible candidate."
"He certainly has always been one to be open to a big rigorous debate," Meadows said.
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pennsylvania, told reporters that he knows Ryan is "thinking very hard" about running. He also said while Ryan is the best person to unite the conference, whoever takes over will face the same problems as Boehner.
"No matter who we put in that chair is going to have to figure out a way to change the political dynamic. That is a much harder question and I think anyone who's thinking about it understands that instinctively," Dent said.
Rep. Luke Messer, R-Indiana, chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, said "there's no silver-bullet candidate that's going to bring us together." He added, "Paul would be a great speaker, I hope he'll reconsider."
Messer acknowledged that McCarthy's decision to drop out of the race a day earlier created chaos, but suggested it wouldn't hurt the GOP.
"The republic can survive a few days of turmoil in Congress," he said. "We'll find a new speaker in a matter of weeks, not months."
According to a source in the Friday morning meeting, Boehner said he was "shocked" by McCarthy's decision to remove himself from the running. He urged his colleagues to listen to each other and work together.
"While we go through this process, we've got to continue to address the people's priorities," Boehner said in the meeting. "This institution cannot grind to a halt."