President-elect Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan pose for photographers after a meeting in the speaker's office on Capitol Hill in Washington. | AP Photo Ryan: 'No concerns' with Bannon as Trump chief of staff

Paul Ryan on Sunday said he has “no concerns” about President-elect Donald Trump potentially hiring one of the speaker’s longtime critics as his chief of staff: Breitbart chief Stephen Bannon.

“I’ve never met the guy,” Ryan said on CNN's "State of the Union." “I don’t know Steve Bannon, so I have no concerns. I trust Donald’s judgment. I think he will pick who will best serve him, and I’m sure we will work well with whomever his chief of staff is.”


Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart, who joined Trump's campaign in August as CEO, is believed to be one of two finalists for the top White House post. The other is Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, a close Ryan ally and fellow Wisconsinite. Trump is expected to announce the name of his chief of staff within days.

The decision could set the tone for the White House's relationship with Congress, but especially the House — much as Barack Obama's selection of pit bull Rahm Emanuel did with congressional Republicans eight years ago.

Before joining Trump’s campaign this summer, Bannon ran the “alt-right” media organization, which hammered Ryan throughout the campaign and even accused him of being in cahoots with Hillary Clinton.

The New York Times reported the week before the election, when it looked as if Trump would lose, that Bannon wanted to force Ryan out of his speakership for distancing himself from the GOP nominee during the campaign. And in an internal email sent late last year and published last month, Bannon told a Brietbart editor he wanted Ryan removed from the speaker's chair within months.

