Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday endorsed Rep. Paul Ryan for speaker, citing his recent remarks in favor of a debt limit increase.
“I’m a fan,” Reid, D-Nev., said of Ryan Tuesday following a private lunch with fellow Democrats.
“He appears to me to be one of the people over there who would be reasonable,” Reid said. “I mean, look at some of the other people.”
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2574118/
Ryan, of Wisconsin, has resisted calls from fellow House GOP lawmakers that he run to replace the retiring Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who hopes to leave office on Oct. 30. But the House Ways and Means chairman is said to be considering running after top lawmakers begged him to join the race.
Only a few other candidates have formally announced they will run, including Republican Study Committee Chairman Bill Flores, of Texas, and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla. is also a candidate.
Reid said he is hoping Ryan takes the place of Boehner as Congress grapples with a series of looming deadlines, including Nov. 3, when the Treasury will need to borrow more money to pay all of the nation’s bills.
Reid pointed to Ryan’s comments, warning that if the country misses a bond payment, “It would shake the confidence of the world economy.”
When a reporter suggested Reid’s endorsement could hurt Ryan’s chances by turning off conservatives, Reid joked, “You speak the truth.”
He added, “I simply said, of all those people I hope he gets it. If it helps him, good. If it doesn’t, that’s too bad.”
