Early reports confirm long whispered rumors: House Speaker Paul Ryan will put down the gavel at the end of the Congress. Soon he will announce that, after calling the House to order for almost three years and under two vastly different presidential administrations, he will retire as speaker to spend more time with his family. His predecessor had his own announcement: John Boehner is joining a weed company.
Before Ryan’s news was even public, former Speaker Boehner tweeted that he was joining the advisory board of Acreage Holding, the leading cannabis corporation. And that’s exactly what Ryan can’t do.
I’m joining the board of #AcreageHoldings because my thinking on cannabis has evolved. I’m convinced de-scheduling the drug is needed so we can do research, help our veterans, and reverse the opioid epidemic ravaging our communities. @AcreageCannabis https://t.co/f5i9KcQD0W
— John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) April 11, 2018
Boehner blows, literal and political, smoke. A health-nut because of his own father’s untimely passing, Ryan probably hasn’t even smoked a celebratory cigar. So while there is little chance Ryan will pick up nicotine or marijuana in retirement, he’s in danger of picking up a worse habit: lobbying.
Ryan promised to be a different kind of speaker than his predecessor. His better way included decentralized decision making, an open door to the speaker’s office, and none of the backstabbing that critics said defined Boehner.
In retirement, Ryan has to do the same thing. Lobbying like Boehner would be a permanent stain on his record. Whatever comes next for the speaker, it can’t be corporate. He needs something that keeps him healthy and keeps him principled. I hear the American Enterprise Institute is hiring, and I hear they have a workout room in the basement.
