Scott Olson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — In the first steps towards cementing a unified Republican government, House Speaker Paul Ryan will meet with President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence in Washington Thursday to lay the groundwork for the 2017 GOP agenda.
Already, Ryan has phoned Trump twice since the New York developer won the presidential race, defeating Hillary Clinton and winning Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin — the first Republican to do so since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
“This is the most incredible political feat I have seen in my lifetime,” Ryan said of Trump’s victory Wednesday morning in Wisconsin. “Donald Trump heard a voice out in this country that no one else heard … he connected in ways with people no one else did.”
While Ryan endorsed Trump and even offered to campaign with him in early November, he was vocally critical of elements of his campaign.
In a rare House floor speech early in the race, Ryan criticized Trump’s proposed Muslim ban. He also rebuked Trump for his comments about an Indiana-born federal judge of Mexican descent, calling them the “textbook definition” of racism, and said he was “sickened” by Trump’s comments about groping women and sexual assault in the leaked 2005 Access Hollywood video.
Trump has also lashed out at Ryan and accused him of undermining his campaign. In August, he initially refused to endorse Ryan in his House primary against a populist, Trump-supporting opponent. In the fall, he called him a “very weak and ineffective” leader and suggested that Ryan wanted him to lose so he could run for president in 2020.
The two leaders also have their policy differences. Trump has endorsed elements of the House GOP election-year agenda, including the tax reform plank. He agrees with Ryan on repealing and replacing Obamacare. But, they have significant disagreements on immigration and entitlement reform, free trade and foreign policy.
However, Ryan suggested Wednesday that he is ready to follow Trump’s lead — not only in the next session of Congress, but in the remaining months of the Obama administration, when Congress must pass a measure to fund the government past Dec. 9.
“Donald Trump will lead a unified Republican government. And we will work hand-in-hand on a positive agenda to tackle this country’s big challenges,” Ryan said.
Before he can get down to business with President-elect Trump, Ryan must first secure a second term as House speaker next week. Despite comlaints from Republican hardliners about Ryan’s performance and his relationship with Trump during the election, he remains the only Republican with enough support to secure the 218 votes needed to keep the gavel.
“I don’t know of anybody running against the speaker at this point,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus that worked to remove former Speaker John Boehner, said in an interview.
Some of Trump’s prominent supporters, including Fox News’ Sean Hannity, have suggested Ryan won’t be speaker when Trump becomes president next year.
“Paul Ryan in not going to be the speaker of the House in January,” he said during a Fox News broadcast on election night. He later walked back the comment on Twitter.
While Trump hasn’t publicly said whether he supports Ryan keeping the speaker’s gavel, Ryan dismissed speculation about his job security.
“I don’t worry about things like that,” he said on Wednesday. “I feel very good where we are.”
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