Washington
(CNN)Rep. Paul Ryan's winning pitch
to House conservatives amounted to this: Let's start over.
For
years, tensions had been boiling between the hard right of the Republican Party
and the House leadership, a battle that effectively pushed Speaker John Boehner
out of office and ended the bid of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to succeed
him.
But
Ryan, facing skepticism from hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus, spoke
bluntly to the conservatives, telling them that he was more ideologically in
line with them than with moderates in the so-called Tuesday Group. He said he
was not the type of leader who is out to seek retribution, unlike past leaders.
The
45-year-old Wisconsin congressman said he would only push important bills such
as immigration that have a majority of support from Republicans -- abiding by
the "Hastert Rule." He promised bold policy ideas on the House floor
like welfare reform, health care legislation and a tax overhaul -- and that the
chamber would stand firm on those policy proposals with Senate Republicans and
the White House. He softened his demand to roll back a procedure allowing lawmakers
to overthrow a sitting speaker.
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