House Speaker Paul Ryan has taken control of a Republican House majority under daily assault — from the biggest names in his own party.
Every day on the campaign trail, Republican presidential candidates beat up on congressional Republicans at least as much, if not more, than they attack President Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party’s presumptive 2016 nominee. The GOP Senate majority certainly gets its share criticism from the Republican presidential hopefuls, particularly from the senators in the race. But House Republicans have hardly been spared.
The downtalking House Republicans endure from their party’s White House hopefuls, amplified by constant criticism from conservative talk radio and outside advocacy groups, tends to focus the ire of GOP voters on their party’s congressional majorities, rather than on the Democratic opposition. The dynamic threatens to complicate Ryan’s nascent speakership, particularly as he attempts to move critical legislation to fund highways, defense and the government.
Ryan didn’t seem too concerned, when asked to comment on the matter on Tuesday during his first news conference on Capitol Hill since winning the speaker’s gavel. The 45-year-old, who represents Wisconsin’s 1st district, has seen the presidential race from both vantage points, having been nominated for vice president in 2012.
“I’m not concerned about the presidential election. I think that’s going to work itself out. What I am concerned about is making sure that we do our jobs here. We were elected by our constituents to represent their interests here in Congress and that’s what we’re going to do,” Ryan said. “We’re going to go on offense, we’re going to go on offense on ideas and give the country a bold conservative agenda, because we don’t think the country’s heading in the right direction.”
“We think the last seven years have been bad years for advancing the American idea, for helping hard working taxpayers, for helping working people who are struggling to get ahead,” Ryan continued. “We need to go in a different direction. And, we owe it to the country to show that different direction. So that’s what we’re going to focus on, we’re not going to worry about who is doing what in the presidential election.”
Presidential candidates criticizing the leadership of the their own party is hardly a new phenomenon. After all, White House contenders are trying to make the case that they should be in charge, and that the country would be in better shape if they were. But with a Republican electorate that is especially frustrated with Washington and disappointed that the House and Senate majorities they elected in 2010 and 2014 couldn’t do more to stop Obama’s agenda, the GOP contenders are trying to harness that anger to boost their candidacies.
Just last week, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a leading candidate, delivered a speech on the Senate floor during which he accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., by name, of being the most effective “Democratic” leader the chamber has ever seen. Meanwhile, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, an underdog hoping to springboard into contention with an upset victory in Iowa, regularly says that Republicans, not Democrats, are what’s wrong with Washington.
Paul Ryan has taken over from John Boehner and is pledging to heal the GOP while fighting Obama’s agenda. Will he … in Washington Examiner’s Hangs on LockerDome
