Politico: Ryan Seeks Coronation

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will not run for the House Speakership unless conservatives surrender “unconditionally” to him, Politico reports citing sources close to Ryan.

“The conservatives who drove out John Boehner would need to get behind him unconditionally for speaker,” Politico’s Jake Sherman writes of the donor-class-backed Ryan.

Ryan does not want to run for Speaker, he and his spokesman Brendan Buck have made “abundantly clear,” Sherman writes—before noting what exactly it would take for Ryan to get in the race.

“But there’s one remote scenario, people close to him say, in which Ryan would consider abandoning his long-laid career plans and go for the speakership: if he was the true consensus choice of the party. That means no opposition, no sniping, no acceding to demands in exchange for support,” Sherman wrote.

That full blown surrender to Ryan is never going to happen, though, according to House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)—the only House conservative who opposed Boehner remaining in the Speakership and current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ascending to the speakership. Jordan never publicly opposed Boehner, but he did publicly oppose McCarthy’s failed attempt to ascend.

Both Jordan and Mulvaney, Sherman writes, “said they would ask Ryan whether he would commit to a host of changes to the institution’s rules.”

“The Freedom Caucus is insisting that the next speaker run a more bottom-up operation — more floor votes on conservative legislation even if it lacks the votes to pass, less cracking down on members who buck leadership,” Sherman wrote before quoting Mulvaney’s and Jordan’s appearances on two different Sunday shows this weekend.

Despite their openness to Ryan if he would agree to substantive changes, Sherman then cites sources close to Ryan as saying the House Ways and Means Committee chairman will never agree to changes. Sherman wrote:

But unlike other candidates for the speakership, Ryan won’t be eager to engage in horse-trading to earn support of his colleagues on the right flank. He might be open to some of the rules changes they want, but it’s extremely unlikely that he would commit to such reforms in exchange for votes in a speaker election. Ryan wants people to support him because they think he’s a good leader who will do the right thing for the party and the country, not because he’s agreed to a set of demands, according to people close to him.

As such, Sherman then cites Ryan’s spokesman Brendan Buck as yet again reaffirming that he won’t run for the Speakership.

“Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said that while his boss appreciates the support from his colleagues, he’s still not running for speaker,” Sherman wrote.

Sherman then quotes Breitbart News and other conservative media outlets as critical of Ryan’s support for amnesty, bailouts like the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and Obamatrade.

“Before you ask, nothing has changed and I don’t anticipate any news this week,” Buck added via Twitter to prevent a group of disappointed reporters from barraging him with press requests about whether Ryan would run for Speaker.

“Enjoy your Columbus Day,” he added in another Tweet.

So with Ryan out of the race for Speaker, the question becomes: Where does everyone go next?