Paul Ryan's political purgatory
Republicans say retiring Speaker Paul Ryan is in political purgatory as he grapples with a failed farm bill, a revolt by moderates on immigration and threats from conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus.
Ryan has been adamant he has no desire or plans to resign the Speakership before his scheduled January departure, but some Republicans think hed like to leave earlier.
They say the Wisconsin Republican is trapped on Capitol Hill because his hand-picked successor, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), cant secure the 218 votes he needs to be elected Speaker in a floor vote.
The Speaker has demonstrated that hes fully supportive of McCarthy. Its easy to speculate that once McCarthy has the votes, the Speaker would vacate the office, one GOP lawmaker close to Ryan and McCarthy told The Hill on Wednesday.
Added a second GOP lawmaker: You are supposed to go once you quit, and somebody else comes in, and a transition happens pretty immediately. Now, its kind of a wait-and-see. Hes in a bad situation, no question about it.
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/389104-paul-ryans-political-purgatory