House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said Wednesday that he didn’t like Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) demand that he’ll only run for House speaker if the chamber rewrites its rules to make it harder to remove the speaker.
Ryan has set a number of conditions for him to run for speaker, which includes the support of prominent GOP groups, including the conservative hardliner Freedom Caucus.
‘I think that we have to make sure that if a speaker does something that embarrasses the House that House members commits a crime or some other act, that the House can act quickly and take care of that issue,” Buck said during an interview on CNN.
But Buck said that he wasn’t “ready to commit to Ryan.”
“I don’t like a ban on taking down a speaker until the next election two years later, no,” Buck said.
Ryan is scheduled to meet with the Freedom Caucus Wednesday afternoon. Republicans on the caucus have given mixed reactions to Ryan’s demands.
Ryan has also said he wants the ability to spend time with his family, a demand some Freedom Caucus members, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), have objected to.
But Buck disagreed.
“I respect the fact that he wants to spend more time with his family,” Buck said. “I think that money is played too big a role in politics in D.C. and I think the less fundraising he does the better the not just appearance but reality of how he’s going to do his job.”
Watch his comments:
“I respect the fact that he wants to spend more time with his family,” Buck said. " we will be keeping them in an undisclosed location - where he will get to see them - as long as he does what he is told"
I still can’t believe Ryan might agree to be speaker, if only because there’s so little upside for him and plenty of headaches. But he’s actually wrong for making the demand that they can’t replace him if they’re angry with him. If I were Ryan, I’d want it well known that if they didn’t approve of the job I was doing, they could keep it and be stuck trying to find a new speaker. In fact, I’d want them to know that if they gave me too much gruff, I’d step down at any time.
After all, that’s the main leverage he has right now and it’s one he’ll keep. They need him far more than he needs them, and the whole reason they’d make concessions now is because they fear they won’t get him as speaker. And well…he’d do best to keep that leverage, since these bozos have a history of pretending they’ll make concessions just to back down when it’s time to finalize things. So if Ryan wants to keep them to their concessions, he needs to keep his leverage too. Don’t vote the way he wants you to, he’ll step down. That needs to be the threat hanging over them at all times.
That Ryan request for two pairs of underwear was the deal breaker apparently.
At some point pretty soon the House majority is going to have to have a vote on which House minority gets to make all the rules. Otherwise, bitch bitch bitch.
What Ryan’s asked for is actually reasonable. He wants a defense against his capricious removal. He’ll meet with these clowns and they’ll decide he’s fine. He’ll become Speaker and change nothing.