Rumors swirled around Capitol Hill on Thursday that House Speaker Paul Ryan is eyeing the exits – but he, his office and even the White House insisted it’s not true.
‘I ain’t goin’ anywhere,’ Ryan told reporters when he exited the Capitol after his weekly press conference amid the release of a Politico magazine feature that said he was contemplating early retirement.
President Donald Trump was concerned enough about losing an ally to call him personally, and White House press secretary Sarah Sanders gave reporters a readout in her early afternoon briefing.
Rumors swirled around Washington on Thursday that House speaker Paul Ryan was eyeing the exits but he and his office insist it’s not true
President Donald Trump was worried enough about a Ryan departure to call him from the White House
‘The president did speak to the speaker not too long ago, and made sure that the speaker knew very clearly and in no uncertain terms that if that news was true, he was very unhappy with it,’ she said.
‘The speaker assured the president that those were not accurate reports, and that they looked forward to working together for a long time to come.’
Not only was Trump floored by Politico’s reporting, but Ryan was caught flat-footed.
‘It sounds like it may have caught Speaker Ryan by surprise,’ Sanders said, ‘because I don’t think it was very accurate reporting.’
‘It sounds like they’re both committed to and looking forward to spending a lot more time together over the next, hopefully, seven [or] eight years.’
Ryan’s spokeswoman Ashlee Strong said in a statement that the Politico story was based on ‘pure speculation.’
‘As the speaker himself said today, he’s not going anywhere any time soon,’ she said.
Ryan insists he’s not going anywhere, saying reporting in Politico is untrue
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy also dismissed the Politico report as ‘not true,’ talking to reporters at the Capitol.
Politico had reported that Ryan was lkely to ‘serve through Election Day 2018 and retire ahead of the next Congress.’
But the speaker recently plowed $1.9 million of fundraising proceeds into the National Republican Campaign Committee, a sign that he’s committing to push through another re-election cycle.
Politico’s stunning analysis, though, held that he would put in just one more legislative year ‘to chase his second white whale, entitlement reform, while using his unrivaled fundraising prowess to help protect the House majority.’
A senior aide to another Republican House member from Wisconsin told DailyMail.com on Thursday that Ryan ‘never planned to be here forever, but I think 2018 is a little too early to be placing bets on.’
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump called Ryan and the speaker assured him that he’s not looking for an early retirement
‘The speaker isn’t going to walk away from the job when he has a Republican president and a Republican majority in the Senate that’s in zero danger of going away,’ the insider said.
Ryan stands to face the usual crop of opponents next year in Wisconsin, including a primary challenge from conservative Paul Nehlen.
‘This is what draining the swamp looks like, folks. #WageTheBattle,’ Nehlen tweeted at the news of Ryan’s potential departure.
Randy Bryce, an ironworker and union advocate, has raised $1.4 million to run against Ryan in 2018.
Ryan has banked $10.4 million to keep his seat in Congress.