Craig Gilbert

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin's Reid Ribble has some advice on his way out of Washington for fellow Republicans.

Don't overreach.

"Of course, that is exactly what they're going to do. And then they are going to pay the penalty in the midterms. It's how this place works," Ribble said in a lengthy interview at the end of a six-year stint in the House of Representatives. "We finally get control — we're going to do all our great things that we wanted to do, that we know we couldn't do by convincing the American people."

Representing a northeastern Wisconsin district anchored by the city of Green Bay, the 60-year-old Ribble has cut an unusual figure in today's polarized Congress, combining a very conservative voting record with an independent, reformist, nonpartisan streak.

He was the first "never-Trump" Republican in the House, declaring more than a year ago he wouldn't support Donald Trump if he became the nominee because of his tone, rhetoric and demeanor — a stance he didn't deviate from.

He is a rare, outspoken Republican opponent of partisan gerrymandering, which his own party used to great effect in his own state to lock in GOP majorities in the Wisconsin Legislature.

"We ought to make partisan redistricting unlawful ... I personally believe that it's not moral," he said.

Ribble is a critic of the way the House operates, even though it's controlled by his party and fellow Wisconsinite Paul Ryan is House speaker.

"I came into this institution cynical, and I'm leaving equally or even more so," he said.

Even his departure from Congress is atypical.

Going back more than 70 years, no other House member from Wisconsin has voluntarily left office after such a short tenure. A fan of term limits, Ribble vowed when first elected in 2010 to serve no more than eight years. He declined to run for a fourth term in 2016 and his seat was won last month by Republican Mike Gallagher.

Ribble, who was in the roofing business, plans to take over leadership of the National Roofing Contractors Association, splitting his time between Wisconsin and Chicago, where the group is based. He said he will not be a lobbyist.

Ribble said his main reason for leaving now is to spend more time with his grandchildren. But he also cited secondary frustrations with Congress and politics.

"I was only going to stay one more term anyway," he said. But he said he would have been treated "like a lame duck" if he served another term.

"I can't hardly do anything now. And this was going to be worse," said Ribble.

One huge frustration was his inability to get a vote on his bill to reform the House budgeting process. He wanted Congress to go from annual budgeting to two-year budgeting so the process could be done in off years between elections.

"We don't get budgets in election years. Look at this budget year. We could not pass a budget in a fully Republican-controlled Congress with Paul Ryan, the most proficient budget wonk in Congress, as the speaker," he said.

Ribble said his bill was blocked by key committee chairmen despite his lining up 237 co-sponsors in the House, including a majority of Republicans and more than 50 Democrats.

Ribble backed Ryan for the speakership and says, "I have a great deal of respect for Paul Ryan."

But his criticisms of Congress are emphatic and wide-ranging. He complained power is too concentrated at the top.

"The leadership has 100% say on everything and they drive and direct every decision," he said.

Ribble said staff has too much control and is an impediment to congressional reform.

"I just marvel at how House Republicans blast unelected bureaucrats at the EPA or unelected bureaucrats in the administration while simultaneously allowing the unelected bureaucrats in the House to do whatever they want," he said.

Ribble criticized the House schedule of long weekends and compressed work weeks, which is designed to allow members to return frequently to their districts. He said lawmakers would be better off spending one full week a month back home and the rest of the time working five-day weeks in Washington. That would reduce the wear and tear of travel while still allowing members time in their districts, he said. It also would force lawmakers to get more work done in Congress and encourage them to get to know their colleagues better in Washington and develop relationships across party lines, Ribble argued.

During the GOP primaries, Ribble lambasted Trump, his party's front-runner, saying he behaved like a "sixth-grader" and complained that his penchant for being "as inflammatory as possible" appealed to "the worst parts of who we are as people."

Ribble said this week that he takes none of that back. Trump carried his House district decisively.

"I think everything I've said about him has actually been borne out," said Ribble. "My mind hasn't changed about him as an individual. He is who he is. But he is also the president-elect (and) the American people have spoken, and out of respect to the voter, we need to give him a chance to succeed."

Ribble called Trump's victory an expression by voters of disgust with Washington, but said his party shouldn't read too much into it when it comes to support for its agenda. He accused President Barack Obama of overreaching after his 2008 victory by passing his health care law without GOP support and said Republicans shouldn't follow that example.

"You can't just jam everything through that you want because you've got all three levers of government. You need to include the minority because they represent 50% of the American people," said Ribble.

"In fact, there is no mandate for President Trump. He did not win in a landslide like he talks. He lost the popular vote by two and half million people," Ribble said. "We live in an extraordinarily divided time in our country and Speaker Ryan and (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell would be very wise to incorporate reasonable pragmatic Democratic ideas."

Ribble said that Americans voted for a "disrupter" in Trump.

But he said if they wanted to shake up Congress and make it a more effective and pragmatic institution, "they should have fired a whole bunch of people. They should have sent a very decisive message by firing 50% or 60% of incumbents, just gotten rid of them. That would disrupt the place."