Paul Ryan is being honest about the challenges of becoming speaker of the House, Rep. Tom Cole said Wednesday, and even though there are differences among Republicans, the party needs to act as a team on the floor.
"Next week on the floor, will everybody feel comfortable with the decision the [Republican] conference made and vote for him there?" the Oklahoma Republican told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.
"The Democrats certainly aren't going to and shouldn't be required to. Obviously, they're going to have their own candidate for speaker."
To be elected, Ryan, R-Wis., or the candidate currently being backed by the House conservative Freedom Caucus, Florida Rep. Daniel Webster, will have to take 218 Republican votes House, so the winning candidate will need to be one who can unite the divided factions of the party.
On Tuesday, Ryan said he'd be
willing to run for speaker of the U.S. House if Republicans unify behind him now, end leadership crises and let him continue spending time with his family.
Ryan was scheduled to be in discussions with the Freedom Caucus on Wednesday concerning his statements and to answer questions, Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told
Fox News' "America's Newsroom" earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, Cole said that he believes it is okay for House members to challenge whomever the speaker is, as there is a mechanism in place that says if 50 members want to call a conference, they can do it.
But still, "what Paul's pointing out is we have to operate by regular order and regular order means on the floor, on procedural matters you work as a team," Cole said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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