WASHINGTON ― Paul Ryan was renominated Tuesday by Republicans to be House speaker, but not before one of the members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team fired a warning shot his way, arguing that the GOP conference leadership votes should have been delayed.
Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), one of Trump’s top surrogates, argued in a closed-door session with all the House Republicans that they should give members more time to consider options before re-anointing Ryan on the first full day back after the election break.
Many Trump supporters were furious at Ryan for not being more supportive of the president-elect during the campaign, and some called for a rebellion after Ryan distanced himself from Trump amid the October revelations that Trump boasted on tape about groping women. The Wisconsin Republican stood up a Trump campaign event in his state and did not campaign with him shortly after that tape came to light.
Barletta did not point any fingers at Ryan, however, saying he just wanted his fellow Republicans to have a little more time.
“It’s not that I’m against Mr. Ryan,” Barletta said after the meeting. “It’s that I want to give people the opportunity. I think the first day back, it’s hard to have leadership elections without giving everybody the opportunity to talk about things.”
He also said there was no talk of dissatisfaction with Ryan in the forming Trump administration.
“It was more of a just, after-election, just cleaning up a little, sorting,” Barletta said. “As a conference and a group, obviously, I think it’s healthy, it’s beneficial to delay that election and let everyone have an opportunity to talk.”
Barletta lost the argument, and Ryan was unanimously renominated by the conference Tuesday afternoon ― and now faces a vote of the full House in January.
But Barletta appears to have been backed by a sizable number of fellow Republicans, which could at least serve as a warning to Ryan that he could lose support quickly.
“I think it’s a very substantial minority,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said of the members who favored a delay. He said he understood the reasons behind the request, although he disagreed.
“I think they think that it would air out some differences and we would come together, and I think they’re concerned about appearances,” Cole said, adding that some proponents of stalling seemed to think debate in the infamously fractious GOP caucus would be chilled if there were not more time to talk.
He said it was valid for Barletta and others to bring up the issue, but he didn’t see the point in waiting, especially since no members except the current leaders have expressed interest in running.
“If someone wants to run, run,” Cole said. “Just to draw the process out, I see no gain and I see lots of delay and opportunities for misunderstanding and mischief.”
This post has been updated to note Ryan was unanimously renominated Tuesday afternoon.