Speaker of House Ryan Not Seeking Election in 2018 Posted by Association of Vermont Credit Unions on 10:27 AM

As reported by CNN and many other news outlets, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced this morning that he's calling it quits and won't be running for re-election again in 2018.  Ryan has been in the House of Representatives for almost 20 years, and says he now seeks more time to be a husband and father.

Ryan's departure is a blow to GOP members who saw the Wisconsin Republican as a stable and policy-oriented leader in a party shaken by the Trump presidency. He has been a fundraising juggernaut ahead of the midterms this fall, and helped translate GOP agenda items into legislation such as a series of tax cuts and rolling back banking legislation put in place under Democrats.

Ryan is a Wisconsin Republican, has been in Congress since 1999 and became House speaker in 2015, a leadership seat for which he reluctantly ran to replace then-Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who retired after sparring regularly with the most conservative members of his conference, including many members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Among the reported contenders to replace Ryan as Speaker are House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

Upon Ryan's announcement, CUNA President Jim Nussle sent a congratulatory message to Ryan.  During his time as Speaker, Ryan visited Landmark Credit Union in Wisconsin, cited CUNA’s regulatory burden data in an economic report last April, and addressed via video those in attendance at the 2016 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference.

Watch the video of Ryan's Wednesday morning announcement below.