Paul Ryan is confident he'll remain House speaker
Once Congress returns to Washington next week, House Republicans are slated to hold internal leadership elections -- but Speaker Paul Ryan seems confident his spot as the top House member is secure.
Ryan told a group of reporters Monday in Wisconsin that he is “not worried” about any change in his position.
“I feel very good where I am,” Ryan said outside of a local Republican party office, according to Politico. “I’ve gotten such a great outpouring of support from members. They know I took the job as a sense of duty, that duty is not done, and I plan on continuing doing that duty.”
Senate Republicans are in danger of losing control of the upper chamber, so Ryan has been campaigning with Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican facing a tough reelection battle against Democratic opponent Russ Feingold -- but in terms of the House, Ryan says he “feels good about our majority.”
“I’ve spoken to just about everybody in a tough race in the last 48 hours,” Ryan said. “And I do feel very, very good. I think our candidates, our incumbents are strong.”
“The fact that we keep this great majority in and of itself in a very, very difficult year is pretty darn good,” he added. “I think we’re going to hold our own quite well.”
Ryan himself has faced rumblings of discontent in some parts of the Republican conference, after his shifting loyalties to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Ryan has repeatedly condemned Trump for his controversial rhetoric on the campaign trail, but the Wisconsin Republican eventually endorsed the party’s nominee despite their differences.
Trump has also shown ambivalence towards the House speaker, whom he endorsed ahead of Ryan’s GOP primary race but who he has since slammed as a “very weak and ineffective leader” on Twitter.
No Republican has yet mounted a campaign to unseat Ryan, who will have to garner a majority of House member votes in January to retain his speakership.
