Two former top House Republicans are shutting down rumors House Speaker Paul Ryan will step down within the next two months.
Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who keep in contact with Ryan, R-Wis., rebuked any notion the speaker would leave his post after a House Republican from Nevada suggested last week Ryan would resign within the next 60 days.
“The idea that he’s going to walk out of there in the middle of the fight is ludicrous,” Boehner told the Washington Post.
“Absolutely not,” Cantor said during a separate interview with the Post. “The notion that Paul Ryan is just going to abdicate and leave is preposterous.”
Speculation about Ryan’s future in Congress began swirling after Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said there is a “rumor” the Wisconsin Republican would resign.
“The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new speaker,” Amodei said during an interview with Nevada Newsmakers.
Ryan’s office quickly denied the “rumor.”
“The speaker is not resigning,” said AshLee Strong, Ryan’s spokeswoman.
Ryan became speaker after Boehner stepped down from the post in 2015, despite previous statements indicating he wasn’t interested in the job.
Still, both Boehner and Cantor dismissed any notion Ryan would resign before the November midterm elections.
“It would be a signal of surrender,” Cantor told the Post.
Cantor resigned from Congress and stepped down from his position as majority leader after famously losing the Republican primary to Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., in 2014.
“He’s going to be the leader of the team all the way through the election,” Boehner said.
