Speaker Paul Ryan is under mounting strain as the rising number of sexual misconduct allegations has forced the Wisconsin Republican to assume the role of House warden.
Former Reps. Trent Franks of Arizona and Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania are unlikely to be the last House Republicans Ryan is compelled to push out of Congress because of sexual misconduct. Congressional ethics probes and media investigations are expected to unearth more incidents of harassment, or worse.
Ryan has embraced the task. He’s disgusted with the alleged malfeasance and concerned for female staff — those already affected and those who could be, absent changes in workplace culture.
But it’s also trying, as Ryan in some instances confronts longtime friends and respected colleagues about the sordid details of their abhorrent behavior and demands resignations.
“In some cases, these are people and families he has known since they came to Congress,” said a veteran Republican operative with relationships on Capitol Hill. “He knows it is the action that has to be taken to protect the victims and institution, but still finds it very hard and difficult. It weighs on him.”
“It’s a difficult and thankless part of being speaker of the House,” a second GOP operative said. “Members are adults, and it’s unfortunate that so much of the speaker’s time and bandwidth is taken to reminding them to behave in a way that is commensurate with the office they hold. It’s not enjoyable in any sense.”
As women who have endured harassment, or worse, sometimes for years feel emboldened to speak out in the post-Harvey Weinstein environment, allegations of sexual misconduct against members of Congress could spike in days ahead. Deciding the fate of members fingered in these matters falls largely on Ryan. That is especially true when the accused is a Republican, as Ryan is his party’s top House official.
Just in the past two weeks, Ryan pressured Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, to drop his re-election plans because of revelations of an embarrassing consensual sexual relationship and demanded that Franks resign amid sexual harassment charges (Murphy’s forced exit came in October after an infidelity scandal).
Democrats have similar problems. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., were forced to resign under pressure from their party, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is trying to push out Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-Nev. The speaker’s office said Friday that every situation is different, and that Ryan has, and will, administer each case accordingly, sometimes in concert with other leaders and legal counsel.
Ryan is spearheading a reform of House human resources policies for congressional staff to reduce sexual harassment and make it easier for women to protect themselves and seek recourse — without jeopardizing their careers. The speaker told reporters on Thursday that “we also need a real culture change.”
“We need to recognize that this is a pervasive problem that women face not just here in Congress but through every industry,” he said. “This really is a watershed moment, and it needs to lead to lasting and positive change.”
This is not what Ryan, 47, wanted to spend his time doing and is probably among the reasons he shunned political leadership and instead pursued the policy committee track after being elected to Congress in 1998.
Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012, appeared to reluctantly agree to run for speaker in the fall of 2015 after his GOP colleagues urged him to succeed Republican John Boehner of Ohio, who stepped down.
The speaker gave up the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee, Congress’ primary tax-writing panel, and his career ambition. Now, on the precipice of shepherding the first federal tax overhaul in three decades to President Trump’s desk, a major professional achievement, Ryan finds himself the chief House disciplinarian.
Boehner, who assumed leadership of the House Republican conference in 2007, after a series of scandals, had little tolerance for unethical or embarrassing behavior. Neither does Ryan, although GOP sources predict that the number of members he will have to consider pressuring to resign will far exceed what Boehner had to deal with during his near-decade in power.
“These can be very complicated situations. But anyone who knows Speaker Ryan knows that he has very much the same opinion of this” as Boehner, said Michael Steel, who advised the former speaker and also spent part of the 2012 campaign counseling Ryan. “He expects members to hold themselves to a very high standard; the American people have a right to expect that.”
