Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that he would not seek reelection this year but he won't be stepping down as speaker.
Why not?
Ryan spoke to reports this morning and said he's not stepping down because it would threaten his agenda which, by his own admission, has more or less collapsed.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Tuesday that a “divisive leadership election” would only disrupt the Republican agenda when asked about a report that surfaced White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney’s musings about replacing Ryan with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) before the 2018 midterms. [...]
“Last Friday was regretful,” Ryan said of the farm bill’s demise. “Members backing the discharge petition are really upset at the other members who brought down the farm bill over this this issue.
“So we clearly have members from opposite ends of our spectrum who are frustrated with each other, which can happen in Congress,” he added.
House Republicans couldn't even pass their own farm bill which does everything they want -- from cutting food stamps to implementing new work requirements -- because they also can't pass a regressive immigration bill.
The discharge petition Ryan refers to is an attempt by moderate Republicans in vulnerable House districts to force a vote to codify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program into law.
The Freedom Causes opposes the discharge petition and they voted against the farm bill (which they do support) because Ryan won't hold a vote on a bill to eliminate DACA, cut legal immigration, and build Trump's wall.
When dealing with ideologues who won't even vote for their own bills, how the fuck is anyone suppose to govern?
If Ryan truly believes he can still pass his agenda if he remains speaker for the next six months, this goes from being merely funny to being hysterical.