Paul Ryan Stays on the Sidelines for Now

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) “left his colleagues guessing Friday about whether he would run for House speaker, declining to speak at a closed-door session of the Republican caucus where lawmakers hoped to find a path uniting their warring ranks,” the Washington Post reports.

“Ryan never spoke during the nearly 90-minute meeting, according to lawmakers and aides, and just one lawmaker, a freshman from Pennsylvania, said Ryan’s name. An hour after the session broke up, the 2012 vice presidential nominee’s aide issued a statement saying that Ryan still was not ready to run for an office that would place him second in the line of president.”

The New York Times reports that several GOP lawmakers “said they believed Mr. Ryan was softening his position and would return to Wisconsin to discuss the situation with his family and closest advisers.”