So, it was about 13 months ago that the tea party wing of the House gave John Boehner an ultimatum:

Either resign the Speakership or we’ll file a motion to vacate the chair.

This morning, writing at Forbes, Stan Collender opines that Paul Ryan could be facing the same ultimatum when the House returns from recess after the election:

It now looks like Ryan could be deposed or forced to resign this Congress in the lame duck session that begins a week after Election Day. In other words, Ryan may no longer be speaker about four weeks from now. I say this after hearing from several highly reliable sources that the House Freedom Caucus is seriously considering doing to Ryan what it did to former Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) by threatening him with a privileged motion to vacate the chair. If a majority of the House supported the motion, Ryan would be removed immediately as speaker.

Wait, whut??

I’m not sure what this tells us. Does GOP internal polling for control of the House next year look so abysmal that the Freedumb Caucus would blow up the remainder of the current congress in order to muck up the works prior to installation of the 115th Congress this coming January? I suppose it’s not inconceivable, especially with the need for another continuing resolution in December to keep the federal government open. The tea partiers would salivate at the opportunity to take budget hostages or risk shutting down the government just prior to Christmas.

Ryan is not likely to do what Boehner did by cleaning out the barn and making deals with House and Senate Democrats and the Obama administration on his way out the door. He has presidential ambitions and any last-minute deals on spending and other issues would greatly complicate a run for the GOP nomination.

Paul Ryan accepted the Speakership position in 2015 after the Freedumb Caucus kinda sorta maybe capitulated to Ryan’s demand that they be cooperative for the remainder of the 114th Congress. Perhaps his expiry date is coming a little sooner than he expected?