Ryan tells GOP he'll run for Speaker — with conditions

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told the House GOP conference that he will run for Speaker if every caucus endorses him, according to lawmakers in the room. 

Ryan made the pledge during a presentation behind closed-doors in which he outlined how he could be convinced to run for the chamber's top job. 

He also gave the House GOP until Friday to rally around him. 

Ryan told his GOP colleagues: "I know this sounds conditional, because it is," according to a source in the room.

A spokesman for Ryan immediately after the meeting said Ryan will only run if his colleagues accept his as a "unity candidate" who is backed by centrists and conservatives in the House.

"Unless the speaker is a unifying figure across the conference, he or she will face the same challenges that have beset our current leadership," spokesman Brendan Buck said.

He said Ryan "encouraged the members to discuss and consider his requests, and he asked that they make clear whether they support them by this Friday."

"If the members agree with his requests and share his vision, and if he is a unity candidate—with the endorsement of all the conference’s major caucuses—then he will serve as speaker. He will be all in," Buck said. "But if he is not a unifying figure for the conference, then he will not run and will be happy to continue serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee."

The spokesman insisted Ryan's comments did not announce a final decision on a run for the Speakership, but Ryan's views on what it would take for the next Speaker to be successful. 

The Ways and Means Committee chairman has been under pressure to run for Speaker for more than a week after the surprise decision by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to bow out of the race to succeed Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

After Ryan spoke with his conference, there were some signs of members rallying around him. 

House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who had launched a bid for the Speakership against McCarthy, said he would end his pursuit given Ryan's willingness to serve.

"I'm out, and all in for Paul Ryan," Chaffetz said.

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), who chairs the centrist Tuesday Group, indicated he and other centrists could endorse Ryan following a discussion amongst themselves this week.

“I could very easily support Paul Ryan,” Dent said.

But Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said he wasn't sure if he could back Ryan.

"I think a lot of things have to play out first," Salmon said.

In his presentation, and in meetings he held before the closed-door meeting, Ryan signaled that he wanted to bring conservatives into his fold, though not in a way that would cripple his ability to lead his party.

In fact, Buck called for a change to the process for a motion to vacate the chair, which had been used as a weapon to threaten Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) speakership. 

"No matter who is speaker, they cannot be successful with this weapon pointed at them all the time," Buck said. 

The steepest climb for Ryan will be to win the endorsement of the House Freedom Caucus, the bloc of roughly 40 ultra conservatives who forced Boehner into an early retirement last month and pressured McCarthy to bow out of the race to replace him.

The Freedom group, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has called for the next Speaker to agree to a series of procedural and rules reforms they want to see implemented, including a return to “regular order” where more bills are sent from committees to the floor.

“He’ll have the same challenge the Speaker had: bringing us all together and trying to get those folks in the Freedom Caucus to support Republican bills,” Transportation Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), a Ryan backer, told The Hill.

“I think he’s got the capability, the experience to be a great Speaker,” Shuster added

Ryan huddled with Jordan and fellow Freedom Caucus co-founders Reps. Mark Meadows(N.C), Mick Mulvaney (N.C.), Raul Labrador (Idaho) and Justin Amash (Mich.) in his Longworth office before the full House GOP meeting.

Meadows said no specific proposals were presented to Ryan at the meeting, and insisted his caucus was looking for concessions related to how the House operates.

"We've been consistent. It's not as much about the who as the what. It's all process driven," he said. "Chairman Ryan is a very capable individual and certainly has great conservative credentials, so it's really more about the process than about the person.

Buck said Ryan had told his colleagues "that he encourages changes to our rules and procedures, but he also believes that those changes must be made as a team. They affect everyone, so everyone should have the opportunity for input."

The House GOP has been in a state of turmoil since McCarthy's decision, even as deadlines to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government quickly approach. 

Conservatives over the last week have been sending lukewarm signals to Ryan, suggesting they would not back him for Speaker unless he agreed to significant concessions that would give more power to the House rank-and-file.

The right-wing revolt against Ryan, who had authored budgets praised by conservatives, triggered more debate within the Republican Party, with some questioning how someone with Ryan's conservative credentials would not pass muster with some members.