Paul Ryan may not be done yet.

As thoroughly as the House speaker shocked the national political establishment Monday by saying he's done with Donald Trump and it's time to focus on his House majority, there's a distinct possibility Ryan will go a step further and completely yank his endorsement, sources close to him told POLITICO.


In fact, Ryan has personally been on the edge of pulling the plug but has held out because his decision is about more than just his personal feelings: It's about saving his massive 60-seat majority. The Wisconsin Republican is in an excruciating spot: He feels torn between his own conscience and his obligations as the top Republican in the country, according to multiple sources in leadership familiar with the internal discussions.

Not to mention, nearly everyone in House Republican leadership believes there are more embarrassing revelations about Trump to come before Nov. 8.

Many of his closest allies say left to his own devices, he'd dump Trump. But Ryan, who's seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, has held on, despite some possible long-term political upside of abandoning Trump. The immediate calculation is this: If Ryan pulls his endorsement, the base could revolt or stay home on Election Day, damaging GOP House candidates. Plus, in some of the deep red districts around the country, constituents want House Republicans to rally around Trump no matter what.

The conundrum made for a dizzying 48 hours inside the GOP leadership, described here based on interviews with many top aides and lawmakers.

Ryan was in Wisconsin, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in his home state of California, attending an event with Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry. On Saturday, one day after The Washington Post released a video that had Trump talking about trying to lure a married woman into an affair and how he could grab women with impunity because he's a star, the leaders decided they needed to gather their membership for a conference call.

While the leaders were revolted by the "Access Hollywood" tape, they weren't sure how bad it would be for Trump and the larger Republican Party. After hearing from dozens of members, and watching many of their rank and file disavow Trump, Ryan and other senior Republicans knew they had to act.

Some leaders favored dumping Trump en masse immediately, according to sources involved in the talks. Others were reluctant to go that far, with a critical presidential debate looming on Sunday. Abandoning Trump as a bloc could backfire and cause even more harm to the House GOP majority than it would Trump. Though some House leaders talked on Saturday night, that strategy was never discussed among the entire team.

Ryan and his top lieutenants — chiefly McCarthy — decided to wait a little longer. After a round of internal discussions, they scheduled a party-wide conference call Monday morning, just hours after Trump’s debate with Hillary Clinton in St. Louis. It was a way to give Trump a final opportunity to show genuine contrition, and to demonstrate that he was serious about trying to appeal to independent voters crucial to the battle for the House, not just his die-hard fans. Basically, a last chance to prove to rank and file Republicans that he wasn't some huckster who had hijacked their party.

By Monday, the consensus — among lawmakers, aides and operatives — was clear. Trump had failed to meet those goals and instead, was ready to bring the party down around him.

On Monday morning, Ryan discussed the issue with members of his leadership team over the phone. And just after 11 a.m., he told the House Republican Conference he was essentially jettisoning Trump. Ryan would not campaign with Trump or defend him anymore; his focus was now on keeping Congress in Republican hands to serve as a check on a Clinton White House.

McCarthy reinforced the speaker's message on the call, telling his colleagues to "take a deep breath" and move cautiously and take care of their own races, a mantra that he's repeated since Friday's video bombshell. Other members of the GOP leadership team, including Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Greg Walden of Oregon, also endorsed Ryan's position.

"It was where everyone was headed anyway, it was the only move that made any sense," said a GOP insider close to the leadership discussions.

There was some dissent, but from familiar pockets that didn't particularly concern the majority of members on the call. Angry members spoke passionately about the "moral imperative" to defeat Clinton, a figure many Republicans have come to loathe after more than 25 years in national politics. But Ryan spent much of Monday on the phone fielding calls from Republicans, with much positive feedback, according to sources in his operation.

The split between Trump and GOP congressional leaders has created a political dynamic without precedent in recent decades. It shows once again the widening gulf between the Republican establishment and the hard-line conservative wing that's taken over the party.

Hard-liners are fine with Trump invoking decades-old sex scandals involving Bill Clinton against his wife, despite protests from the GOP mainstream. The move excites some GOP base voters, but risks alienating the independents that Ryan and his House colleagues need to win.

But within House leadership, it's the kind of unwelcome distraction they've seen far too many of from Trump.