U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan has bolted to a fast start as the chamber’s freshly minted leader.
Ryan, R-Janesville, can tout several legislative accomplishments in his first five weeks leading the House Republicans. A five-year transportation spending bill sailed through Congress, and the Every Student Succeeds Act, a bill defining the federal role in schools and successor to the controversial No Child Left Behind law, has passed the House.
Both bills are expected to be signed into law by Democratic President Barack Obama.
Ryan, speaking to the Wisconsin State Journal in a Monday interview, said that’s no small matter. Both bills passed the House with bipartisan support, at a time when that commodity is scarce on Capitol Hill.
“I am very pleased with the progress we’ve made so far,” Ryan said. “We’ve made substantial progress to unlock issues that have been thorny and divisive for years.”
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Ryan is less vocal about his party’s potential nominee to succeed Obama, Donald Trump. The billionaire businessman and reality TV star has led most national Republican presidential polls since the summer months — and continues to do so with less than two months until the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.
Ryan declined to comment on Trump’s continuing leadership of national GOP polls or his pronouncement Sunday that political correctness and a fear of profiling may have contributed to the San Bernardino shooting.
“I’m neutral in the (presidential) race and I’m going to keep at this position,” Ryan said.
Ryan also said a short-term fix may be needed to keep the federal government running through an impending deadline this week. Friday is when the existing spending blueprint for the federal government expires. A government shutdown would follow if Congress and Obama fail to agree on an extension, though both sides have been publicly sanguine about the prospects for a deal.
Still, Ryan said Monday that “large differences” remain. If they can’t be resolved in the coming days, Ryan predicted a short-term budget extension may be in the offing.
“We’re not going to let the calendar prevent us from getting it right,” Ryan said.
When he was elected House Speaker, Ryan vowed that his ties to Wisconsin’s First Congressional District wouldn’t suffer. He pledged to return to his hometown of Janesville each weekend — a promise to which he says he has adhered so far.
Ryan said last weekend’s itinerary included time spent with his three young children and stops in Elkhorn — a small town in the heart of his district, which stretches from Janesville to Racine and Kenosha — and at the Rock County Historical Society.
“I’ve been able to keep to my routine,” Ryan said.
