J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters following a GOP strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 14, 2018.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 | 2 a.m.
Rep. Mark Amodei
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said on "Nevada Newsmakers" Monday that Rep. Paul Ryan may soon resign as speaker of the House.
Amodei said he was repeating a rumor that's around Capitol Hill.
"The rumor mill is that Paul Ryan is getting ready to resign in the next 30 to 60 days and that Steve Scalise will be the new speaker," Amodei said.
"Now that is interesting because nobody has talked to members (of the U.S. House) on how they are going to vote (on new leadership)," Amodei said. "Now, maybe they have talked to all of the members but me, I don't know."
Scalise, from Louisiana's 1st Congressional District, is currently the House majority whip, responsible for rounding up votes on various bills and issues. Last June, he was shot during practice for the congressional baseball team in Virginia. He survived his critical injuries and returned to Congress in September.
This is not the first time resignation rumors about Ryan, of Wisconsin, have surfaced. Last December, he said he was "soul searching" about his leadership role. At the time, he denied the rumors of resignation, saying they were "irresponsible."
When asked why Ryan would resign now, Amodei said that maybe he has accomplished what he set out to do as the U.S. House leader and may want to move on to other challenges.
"I don't know. If I was just guessing, he wanted to do the tax-cut bill," Amodei said, referencing the passage in Congress of major tax cuts late last year. "You know, (former Speaker) John Boehner said: 'Hey, I checked all of the boxes I thought were important and I'm moving on to whatever else.'"
Amodei, who has represented Nevada's 2nd Congressional District, which includes Reno and its surrounding area, since 2011, hinted Ryan may be considering running for president or another high office. Ryan has been mentioned as a presidential candidate before, although Trump will be up for re-election in 2020.
"If it, in fact, is true, I know that Paul Ryan thinks he wants to play on the national stage in some capacity or another, so I don't know what that means," Amodei said.
Amodei scoffed at the notion Ryan would take a job in the Trump administration.
"The White House and Paul Ryan would probably not be a great fit," Amodei said.
Ryan was recently critical of Trump's planned tariffs for steel and aluminum. He had earlier called Trump's derogatory remarks about immigration from Haiti and some African nations "unhelpful."
Shortly after this report surfaced, Scalise's office told Politico that Scalise "fully supports" Ryan to remain speaker.
"Scalise is proud to serve alongside Speaker Ryan and fully supports him to remain Speaker," Scalise spokesperson Lauren Fine told Bade, according to Bade's tweets. "Our whole leadership team is focused on working w/ President Trump to deliver more conservative wins for the country & also ensuring we keep the majority so we can continue implementing President Trump's agenda that is getting our economy back on track."
