Donald Trump’s newly tapped senior advisor Steve Bannon has previously expressed open disdain for Republican House speaker Paul Ryan, dubbing him an “enemy” and calling for his removal from the position. But House Republicans brushed off the possibility that Bannon’s attacks on Ryan would drive a wedge between Congress and the Trump White House Monday, telling THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the GOP will remain unified.
“I can’t control that, nor can I fix or address it. I’m really indifferent to it,” Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, told TWS when asked about Bannon’s animosity toward Ryan. “We gotta do what we gotta do.”
North Dakota congressman Kevin Cramer, an energy adviser to Trump, noted that Bannon was not made chief of staff—Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus was appointed to that position—but praised Bannon for helping elect Trump.
“Mr. Bannon helped engineer a tremendous victory for Donald Trump,” Cramer told reporters. “It is also important to understand that [Trump] didn’t make him chief of staff, and he didn’t put him in charge of the entire White House.”
Asked whether he is concerned that Bannon, who is executive chairman of the news site Breitbart, has ties to the alt-right, the North Dakota congressman responded that he did not know Bannon personally.
“I just don’t know him well enough,” Cramer said. “Of course, I’d have serious problems with anti-Semitic strategy coming out of the White House, but I don’t expect that from Donald Trump.”
Cramer later said that, in any case, the Republican party must not be hindered by conflict.
“Now is not the time to have a civil war,” he said.
Oklahoma congressman Tom Cole also said that he does not know Bannon, but expressed certainty that Republicans would put aside their differences and work together.
“I just think we ought to all work together … and I actually think people will be professional enough to do that,” he said. “You don’t have to be in love with someone to work with them.”
Pennsylvania congressman Lou Barletta agreed that open hostility toward Ryan shouldn’t disrupt a business-like administration and said he trusts Donald Trump’s staffing decisions.
“Obviously [Bannon] did a pretty good job in helping Mr. Trump … get to the White House,” he told TWS. “It’s not so much that everyone has to love each other, but more that everyone has to get the job done.”
Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who disapproved last month of Ryan’s decision to stop campaigning for Trump, spoke highly of Bannon, noting the incoming White House aide’s effectiveness and saying “the results speak for themselves.”
“I was surprised when I met him to see how soft-spoken and how … methodical and quiet [he is],” Meadows said.
The North Carolina congressman said he does not anticipate friction between Bannon and Ryan.
“I’ve talked to Mr. Bannon several times,” Meadows said, “and I’ve heard no negative comments about the Speaker in my conversations with him.”
Tennessee congressman Scott DesJarlais, an early supporter of Donald Trump, said he has not made up his mind about Ryan or Bannon. When asked whether he’ll vote for Ryan for speaker, he said, “I’m not sure I’m quite there yet”—echoing Ryan’s non-endorsement of Trump, which the then-nominee later parroted back in reference to Ryan’s primary bid.
With regard to Steve Bannon’s prominent role and the possibility of friction between the White House and Congress, DesJarlais pled ignorance.
“All I saw was what [House majority leader Kevin] McCarthy had said in Politico. Other than that I didn’t really know there was a rift,” he said. McCarthy told Politico in an article published earlier Monday, “I don’t know Steve.”
Bannon has in the past reportedly called for Ryan’s removal and gone on “rants” about the speaker to Breitbart staffers. He has also expressed contempt for Republican leadership on the whole.
Ryan said Sunday that he had “no concerns” about Bannon’s expected White House role.
