House Republicans will decide on a new speaker on Oct. 28, and the entire House will vote for a speaker on Oct. 29, Speaker John Boehner announced Wednesday as GOP lawmakers grappled over whether to back the conditional candidacy of Rep. Paul Ryan.
Boehner’s schedule keeps intact his plan to retire at the end of October, and assumes that House Republicans are close to finding a consensus candidate to replace him.
But Republicans remain split on whether to back Ryan, R-Wis., who on Tuesday night outlined terms for jumping into the speaker’s race. Those terms include a unified endorsement from the majority of the Republican conference by Friday, and permission to skip the heavy fundraising role that comes with the job.
The House Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative House GOP lawmakers, has endorsed Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida for speaker, and says there is a “high hurdle” Ryan must meet to change that endorsement. Ryan will meet with the group this afternoon.
For the GOP-only vote on Oct. 28, Ryan will only need a majority vote of the 248-member conference to become the speaker-designate. But Ryan is likely to seek at least the 218 threshold that will be needed to elect him in the Oct. 29 floor vote, which will include Democrats.
Boehner, R-Ohio, said he hopes to step down on Oct. 30 but would remain in the position if Republicans cannot agree on a successor. He said he believes Ryan can win the 218 votes.
Ryan will be meeting with the conservative and moderate House GOP factions in the coming days in an effort to win their endorsement.
“He’s said some really good things,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said Wednesday. “That’s why he’s going to come in and talk to us.”
The GOP’s moderate faction believes Ryan is the only candidate who can unite the party, and fears the consequences if he drops out due to lack of support from conservatives.
“It will be a disaster for the Republican party, and this country,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.
