Newly elected House Speaker Paul Ryan says he doesn’t see a way the Republican-controlled Congress can cooperate with President Obama on reforming U.S. immigration policy.
Ryan appeared Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” and the first question out of the gate from host John Dickerson was about his plans to tackle the country’s long-standing immigration issues.
“Look, I think it would be a ridiculous notion to try and work on an issue like this with a president we simply cannot trust on this issue,” said Ryan. “He tried to go it alone, circumventing the legislative process with his executive orders so that is not in the cards.”
A consensus is possible, Ryan added, on border security and interior enforcement.
Ryan was asked if he thought there was a cost to the Republicans’ often tumultuous search for a viable speaker replacement, once John Boehner announced he was stepping down.
“I don’t think there was a cost as much as it was growing pains,” said Ryan. “I think what we just experienced in the last couple of weeks was what was necessary to unify our conference, to unify our party.”
Ryan was pressed further to address the 40 or so conservatives who fought against Boehner when he was speaker, but decided to largely back Ryan to take his place despite some “extreme” tactics that some think could hurt the party.
“Well, these guys are good friends of mine,” he said. “I am a movement conservative. And people know that. I think it’s important — I think what we haven’t done is offer a vision. We have not shown not only ourselves but the nation: What is the horizon we’re shooting for? What are the big ideas that we’re going to champion? That’s unifying. That’s what we should rally around.”
Dickerson also asked Ryan if he sees his new job as being more of a “leader” or a “facilitator.”
Ryan responded, “I was not elected dictator of the House. I was elected speaker of the House. And that means we do it in a bottom up approach. We reach consensus.”
“As Republicans,” Ryan added, “we have common principles. We need to take those common principles and apply them to the problems of the day through consensus to show the country a better way forward. And it’s my job to lead to that consensus, but not to dictate that consensus.”
