Paul Ryan wants to serve the rest of his term as speaker. But some senior Republicans are suggesting that Ryan relinquish his gavel now and allow a successor to take over.

Several allies to speaker hopeful Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the majority leader, say House Republicans need to be united heading into the midterms, and that a leadership race could split the conference. Other Republicans are questioning whether having a lame-duck speaker at the helm of the Republican Conference will hurt their fundraising.


“We would have more success if there’s no ambiguity as to what the leadership structure might look like,” said Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), one of McCarthy’s closest allies, who is pushing for a vote to replace Ryan sooner rather than later. “Certainty is important. ... From the conversations I’ve had, everybody wants our ‘A team’ in place, our strongest team in place, so we have the strongest outcome going into the election cycle.”

That‘s directly at odds with the message Ryan delivered on Wednesday, when he vowed to serve out his term. And most of the conference appears to be behind him — at least for now. Some hard-line conservatives who’ve butted heads with Ryan think a protracted leadership contest would mean a prolonged courtship of them by McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) — and potentially more influence down the road.

Ryan reiterated his intention to stay Thursday, swatting aside suggestions he step aside now. He said most GOP members want him to stay and boasted that he has “shattered every fundraising record any speaker has ever set.”

"I came into this job of speaker with a goal to raise $20 million? I doubled it to $40 million,” Ryan said, appearing annoyed by suggestions he leave early. “There is nobody who’s come close to being able to raise the kind of funds I have… [I]t makes no sense to take the biggest fundraiser off the field.”

Ryan’s stance puts Republicans in a sensitive spot, not wanting to be seen as forcing him out but, at least for some lawmakers, feeling that it would offer the best chance of saving their majority. The conversation is likely to heat up in the coming days.

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Most House Republicans interviewed by POLITICO on Wednesday said they thought Ryan would be an asset, not a hindrance, in the midterms. He‘s raised record amounts of cash for the party in the past. And some Republicans are confident donors will continue to give — and the base will turn out at the polls — in the name of protecting the majority, no matter who is speaker.

“I don't think voters are gonna vote for or against any candidate based on whether or not [Ryan] stays on or not,” said Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.). “I'm comfortable with him staying on. If he wants to go home early, that's up to him.”

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) agreed, saying Ryan "has already said he's going to run through the finish line."

Ryan allies also note that there is no mechanism to make him leave and argue that a leadership election would create more conflict, not cohesion.

“We don’t need the division right now, the division of an election for speaker during the campaign," said Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.).

But other GOP lawmakers and aides privately wondered whether keeping Ryan at the helm could hold them back. There’s a fear that McCarthy and Scalise will spend the next few months “shadowboxing” for the position, as one Republican source said, rather than staying focused on the midterms. Scalise is also eyeing the speakership but has said he won’t run unless McCarthy can’t secure the needed votes.

In an ironic twist, the House Freedom Caucus — some members of which have plotted to overthrow Ryan previously — is now saying he should complete his term.

“I think it would be disrespectful to the speaker” to ask him to step aside, said the group’s chairman, Mark Meadows (R-N.C.). “I think pushing a date up when a speaker announces his departure would be inappropriate.”

Meadows also noted that there is no heir apparent to take the baton.

Of course, the longer a leadership race remains open, the more demands conservatives can make of candidates. That’s bad news for McCarthy, who’s trying to woo conservatives who blocked his bid for speaker in 2015. He would be under the microscope of his critics for more than half a year.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian from Kentucky and frequent leadership critic, hinted at this dynamic. He joked that Ryan’s announcement was “great” because it sets up “the longest speakership race in history” — meaning “all these guys are going to be polite because they’re all going to be running for something.”

“I’m looking forward to a new level of politeness in the House,” he smirked. “A lot of people will get free meals at the Capitol Hill Club.”

But even Massie called the situation an “improbable vacuum” that wouldn’t last, predicting “there’s at least a 50 percent chance” that a vote to replace Ryan will come earlier than the current speaker wants.

“I don’t see how it can be maintained,” Massie said. “It’s an unstable situation, eight months of a lame-duck speaker? The donors are going to want to meet the next guy or gal, right? It just seems unstable to me.”

Graves also argued that “we would be able to raise more money” and would “have more success throughout the summer and into the fall” if leadership elections happened sooner rather than later.

Asked whether he was worried about the optics of pushing Ryan aside, Graves said that “Paul wants what’s best for our conference” and “if he senses that this is the direction that the members want to go,” he likely would step aside willingly.

“He’s been selfless up until this point,” Graves said of the speaker.

Ryan’s office did not respond to a request for comment.