UPDATE (2:24 p.m.): White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Trump has spoken to Ryan, and said he was "very unhappy" if this news was true.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Paul Ryan potential departure: “The president did speak to the speaker not too long ago, and let him in no uncertain terms that if that news was true he was very unhappy with it."
— Matt Viser (@mviser) December 14, 2017
UPDATE (12:56 p.m.): Ryan's office called POLITICO's piece "gossip" and "completely baseless."
From @SpeakerRyan's office: "Speaker Ryan is fully committed to advancing a bold conservative agenda in 2018 and protecting the majority. Any gossip to the contrary is completely baseless and without merit.” #PaulRyan #Politico #notretiring
— Kevin Corke (@kevincorke) December 14, 2017
---Original Post---
A shocker from POLITICO: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) is reportedly considering retiring from Congress following the 2018 midterm elections. Ryan has apparently been quite tired of DC for a while, and when he was elected Speaker of the House, he made it clear to then-Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) that this would be his last role in Congress.
#BREAKING: House Speaker Paul Ryan considering retirement after 2018 midterms https://t.co/5cYNlzqFfW pic.twitter.com/wFNa0j7cIe
— POLITICO (@politico) December 14, 2017
From POLITICO:
Despite several landmark legislative wins this year, and a better-than-expected relationship with President Donald Trump, Ryan has made it known to some of his closest confidants that this will be his final term as speaker. He consults a small crew of family, friends and staff for career advice, and is always cautious not to telegraph his political maneuvers. But the expectation of his impending departure has escaped the hushed confines of Ryan’s inner circle and permeated the upper-most echelons of the GOP. In recent interviews with three dozen people who know the speaker—fellow lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyists—not a single person believed Ryan will stay in Congress past 2018.
While this is shocking on the outset, when viewed through the full lens of Ryan's life and career, it isn't entirely surprising. He was hesitant to accept the role as Speaker to begin with, and said that he did not want this new position to interfere with spending time with his family. (Ryan is seven years younger than his father was when he passed away.) He has served in Congress since 1999.
POLITICO speculates that the 2018 departure would give him another year to attempt to achieve his legislative goals without having to worry about any sort of Trumpian effect on Congress come the 2020 elections.
Ryan himself has not yet commented publicly on these reports.
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