Outside the Beltway

Paul Ryan Won’t Be The Next Speaker Of The House, Paul D. Ryan Will

Doug Mataconis · Wednesday, October 28, 2015 · 3 comments

As expected, the House Republican Caucus has selected the Congressman from Wisconsin 1st Congressional District as its candidate in tomorrow’s election for Speaker of the House:

Republicans on Wednesday rallied behind Rep. Paul Ryan to be the next Speaker of the House, declaring him the best candidate to turn the page and unify a fractured GOP conference.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and the 2012 vice presidential nominee, easily defeated his only rival for the top job, GOP Rep. Daniel Webster, a former Speaker in the Florida statehouse.

The full House is expected to elect Ryan as Speaker in a formal floor vote Thursday morning, transferring the gavel from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is resigning Friday after a quarter century in Congress.

Boehner in last year’s election led his party to the largest House majority in generations, but he faced an uprising this fall from conservatives who threatened to oust him from power.

For now, Ryan has support from most of the 40 members of the far-right Freedom Caucus, but he’ll have to wrestle with the same conservative forces that pushed out his predecessor and scuttled Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) own bid for the Speakership.

Wednesday’s internal vote came just hours after Ryan announced he would back a sweeping two-year deal that raises spending caps and the debt ceiling. Conservatives had urged him to oppose the pact because the White House, Boehner and other top congressional leaders negotiated it behind closed doors.

But, don’t call him Paul Ryan anymore:

Paul Ryan is changing his job title. He’s changing his office. And he’s even changing his name.

From today on, the Wisconsin Republican would like to be known – in official capacities, anyway – as Paul D. Ryan.

The Ways and Means chairman asked the Clerk of the House Karen Haas to officially change his name to include the middle initial on all official documents and offices – just one day before Ryan is set to be elected speaker.

The D, in case you’re wondering, stands for Davis.

The full House votes tomorrow on the Speakership, and Ryan is expected to win easily.