New Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday he would try to get more Republican members involved in the decision making process, vowing that he won’t run the office as a dictatorship. Ryan scored a clean sweep as he did prerecorded interviews with ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and CNN. Yes he hit all the Sunday morning political talk shows.
He was consistent telling all of the anchors “I was elected Speaker of the House. And that means we do it in a bottom up approach. We reach consensus,” he said.
“As Republicans, we have common principles. We need to take those common principles and apply them to the problems of the day through consensus to show the country a better way forward,” Ryan added. “And it’s my job to lead to that consensus, but not to dictate that consensus.”
Ryan was very clear that he is still pushing conservatives to make it harder for members to use procedural tactic to oust a sitting Speaker. But he has said he’s open to an overhaul of internal GOP rules that would allow for more bills to come to the floor and more members to help decide who receives committee gavels and committee slots.
The new Speaker will continue to sleep in his office as he did before he was the number three person in line to the presidency. When CNN’s Dana Bash told Ryan, normal guys don’t sleep in their offices, Ryan went further, explaining his daily routine when he’s in Washington.
“So I live in Janesville, Wisconsin. I commute back and forth every week. I just work here. I don’t live here,” he said. “So i get up very early in the morning. I work out. I work til about 11:30 at night. I go to bed and I do the same thing the next day.
“It actually makes me more efficient,” Ryan added. “I can actually get more work done by sleeping on a cot in my office, and I’m going to keep doing it.”
As Speaker, Ryan will be entitled to quite a bit more real estate in the Capitol. But a Ryan spokesman said the Speaker will continue spending nights in his congressional office in the Longworth House Office Building, not in the Speaker’s office in the Capitol.
