Paul Ryan said he is officially seeking another term as House Speaker. | AP Photo Ryan set to win speaker election But several Republicans are unhappy about the timing of vote.

Paul Ryan is poised to win a secret-ballot election Tuesday to serve a second term as speaker, as House Republicans look to move past years of internal bickering and unite behind President-elect Donald Trump.

The Wisconsin Republican, who last week started making calls to fellow lawmakers to lock down support, only needs the backing of a majority of the Republican conference. The bigger hurdle will come in January, when Ryan must garner a majority of lawmakers present — typically 218 votes — to keep his gavel.


Even as the conference hailed Ryan last year for stepping up to fill the leadership void left by former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), about 43 lawmakers cast ballots for protest candidate Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.). Sources expect fewer defections this time, a sign that Republicans are eager to show a united front.

Not everyone is happy about the timing of the internal election, however. A number of lawmakers walking into a Republican meeting Monday grumbled that Ryan should have postponed the leadership vote. Three days before the presidential election, POLITICO reported on a letter — authored by Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) and backed by roughly a dozen Trump supporters and other lawmakers — asking Republican leaders to postpone the election. They've refused to do so.

“I just thing we need a couple days to come together as a conference. I think there were some major differences prior [to the election] and I think we need a couple days to give a chance to come back together,” said Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), a leading Trump surrogate in Congress. Barletta said he’s not sure whether he will support Ryan for speaker.

“Do we have to rush into this?” added Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.). “Let’s just take a deep breath and give members some time to talk. I just got here at 3:30 p.m.! I’ve been in the office trying to do all kinds of stuff since I haven’t been here in weeks."

Ironically, the speaker's easy path to reelection comes just days after he was seen as at his most vulnerable. Since early October, Trump's most adamant House supporters have steamed over Ryan's decision to distance himself from the GOP nominee. Several members also told POLITICO after the election that should Trump — who weeks ago lashed out at Ryan for keeping him at arm's lenghth — express interest in pushing Ryan out of the speakership, they might have to heed his call.

Trump, however, has shown no desire for revenge at this point.

Following his lead, much of the House Freedom Caucus has also put down their knives. Several members told POLITICO late last week that they plan to support Ryan after considering trying to depose him.

"Paul Ryan is going to end up running for speaker unopposed," Freedom Caucus co-founder Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said on CNN Monday. "He'll have the vast majority of the Republican Congress, the vast majority of the House freedom Caucus, because the focus is really not on the speaker's race any longer. It's on the American people and making sure that we actually take Washington, D.C. back, give it back to its rightful owner, the American people."

Ryan told House Republicans in an email that “we have an historic opportunity to turn President-elect [Donald] Trump’s extraordinary victory into progress for the American people.”

“I am running for re-election so that we can continue what we have started and make 2017 a year of action,” Ryan wrote. “If we go for it — if we go big and go bold — we can make America so great that it offers our children even more than it offers us.”

Ryan and the current leadership team is expected to be reinstalled during a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference on Tuesday. The bigger test will be a floor vote in January, when Ryan must garner a majority of members present, typically 218 votes, to re-take the gavel.

Trump has signaled little desire to punish Ryan for keeping him at arm’s length during the campaign, though some of his top allies, including Breitbart chief Steve Bannon, indicated during the election they wanted Ryan to be removed the speaker's post.

Ryan's email was part solicitation, part battle cry. Ryan told the conference that Republicans, who will control the White House and both chambers of Congress, have a chance to do something monumental.

He urged them to seize the moment to unify and get something done, which he added “will not be easy.”

"We will be challenged, and rightly so,” Ryan wrote, but “we cannot be timid about this: the country has voted for change, and we must deliver.”

“We have shown that when we go bold, we win,” Ryan continued. “Now this agenda will help us hit the ground running as we join forces with the new Trump administration. We need to seize this moment, and come together like never before.”

