Paul Ryan’s Allies Already Stacking Sandbags

Grassroots conservative activists and members of Congress are ramping up their opposition to Establishment-backed efforts to make it harder to recall a speaker of the House of Representatives between elections.

The proposal offered by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) would make it nearly impossible to invoke what is known as a “motion to vacate the chair.” Any member can file such a motion, which triggers a vote of no-confidence in the speaker — removing him from the post if he cannot muster majority support in the chamber.

“Any effort to get rid of the centuries-old ‘motion to vacate’ is a nonstarter.”

Under the Nunes proposal, a motion to vacate could not be filed without support from a majority of members in either the majority or the minority caucus. The change would be made as part of the official rules adopted at the start of the next Congress in January.

“Any effort to get rid of the centuries-old ‘motion to vacate’ is a nonstarter,” Freedom Caucus Chairman and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a statement to LifeZette. “It is an essential tool given to us by the Founding Fathers to allow rank-and-file members to express discontent with their leadership. Any attempt to alter it would cross a line, and undermine both the trust of members in their leadership and of Americans in their representatives.”

Nunes has argued that the change is necessary for the stability of the House.

“We know the turmoil that can be created with a huge leadership vacuum in the Congress,” Nunes told Roll Call last month.

A Republican congressional aide who requested anonymity said that Nunes made the proposal on his own and did not consult with Speaker Paul Ryan. He said it has a fair amount of support from GOP representatives who dislike the idea of a “gun pointed to the speaker’s head.”

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The aide said that it should require more than a single member of Congress to force a vote against a sitting speaker.

“Making a move against the speaker is a very dramatic and destabilizing thing,” he said.

Nunes, Longtime Establishment Ally
Nunes long has been close to the Republican Establishment in the House. He was a strong opponent of efforts to oust Ryan’s predecessor, John Boehner, last year. He called advocates of the 2013 government shutdown “lemmings with suicide vests” and in 2015 lashed out at the Freedom Caucus — calling it the “right-wing Marxist” faction of the GOP and accusing it of teaming up with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.

Nunes also referred to Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) as “al-Qaida’s best friend” for voting against domestic surveillance programs and helped raise money for his 2024 primary challenger.

The motion to vacate procedure, which has not been used since Democrats unsuccessfully tried to remove Republican Speaker Joseph Cannon in 1910, dates back to the Jefferson Manual — adopted by the House in 1837 to govern parliamentary procedure. But some observers credit it with bringing down Boehner.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) filed a motion to vacate the chair last year, accusing Boehner — among other transgressions — of causing “the power of Congress to atrophy, thereby making Congress subservient to the Executive and Judicial branches, diminishing the voice of the American People.”

The House never voted on it.

“Ultimately, it still was successful, because John Boehner saw the writing on the wall,” said Jason Pye, a spokesman for the conservative interest group FreedomWorks.

Ryan has said nothing publicly about the proposal, but spokeswoman AshLee Strong said Monday: “The speaker is focused on protecting our majority and any rules discussions will take place after the election.” Another spokesman, Brendan Buck, told The Weekly Standard last year that Ryan favored unspecified changes to “de-weaponize [the rule] so it’s not always hanging over the head of whoever is speaker.”

In an op-ed published Friday in the Washington Examiner, FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon urged Ryan to kill the effort. He argued that it is a crucial tool to keep speakers accountable to the rank and file.

“The motion to vacate the chair is the sword of Damocles that hangs over the head of whoever happens to hold the office,” he wrote. “If a speaker begins to lose his or her way and act in a manner that harms the House, this procedural tool serves as a vital accountability mechanism.”

Challenge Looming for Ryan?
The success or failure of the rule change could come down to how many moderate Republicans lose their seats in next month’s election. A smaller caucus that skews more heavily conservative could increase pressure on Ryan. If supporters try to ram it through, Pye said FreedomWorks would push members to block the entire rules package.

“It could lead to the defeat of the rules on the House floor … That’s no way to start a Congress,” he said.

Before Ryan worries about a mid-term coup, though, he might have to fend off a traditional challenge when the new House elects a speaker. His decision to back away from GOP nominee Donald Trump caused a backlash among some members.

“Given the stakes of this election, if Paul Ryan isn’t for Trump, then I’m not for Paul Ryan,” Rep. Jim Bridenstone (R-Okla.) tweeted earlier this month.

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A member of the House Freedom Caucus told The Hill last week that it was “a pretty sure bet there will be an opponent to the speaker in November.”

If conservative Republicans do decide to mount a challenge to Ryan, there is evidence they will have popular support among Republican voters. An Economist/YouGov poll last week showed 64 percent of Trump supporters have an unfavorable view of Ryan, compared with 28 percent who view him favorably.

A Bloomberg Politics poll last week showed that 51 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning likely voters believe Donald Trump’s views better matched their view of what the party should stand for. Only 33 percent chose Ryan, while 15 percent said they were not sure.