Press Staff Blog

At Speaker Ryan’s town hall with millennials at Georgetown University this afternoon, he posed a key question for the American people and pitched his “Confident America” agenda. From Morning Consult:

“House Speaker Paul Ryan received some nervous laughter at Georgetown University on Wednesday when he posed the following question to students: ‘Why support Republicans?’”

As our friends in the press get ready to cover Speaker Ryan’s town hall with millennials at Georgetown University this afternoon, your ever-helpful Whip press shop has put together a few questions you could ask the Speaker:

Doesn’t seem like it. During colloquy today, Whip Hoyer asked Leader McCarthy when Republicans intend to bring their budget to the Floor. Leader McCarthy’s response? Click here to find out.  

In the six months he’s been in charge, Speaker Paul Ryan has struggled with deep divisions among his Members, preventing the House from being able to accomplish much of anything. The GOP conference is as divided and dysfunctional as ever and has failed to address any of the critical issues facing America, such as passing a budget, addressing public health emergencies like Zika, Flint, and opioid addiction, and providing Puerto Rico with relief. Politico said it best this morning:

Speaker Ryan & House Republicans have said that passing a budget is the primary responsibility of Congress, yet they blew past the statutory deadline for passing a budget today and have no plans to bring it to the Floor. A look at this morning’s headlines highlights how deep division and dysfunction within the Republican conference has prevented them from meeting the most basic responsibility of governing:

Despite years of talking about how critical it is to pass a budget – and ceaseless criticism of the Senate when they failed to pass one – Speaker Ryan and House Republicans have all but given up on passing a budget for Fiscal Year 2017.  Politico highlights the hypocrisy this morning: 

Not the Republican budget. Despite Speaker Ryan’s call for regular order – which includes passing a budget – and the GOP’s insistence on “no budget, no pay,” we wanted to be sure you saw yesterday’s exchange between Whip Hoyer and Leader McCarthy on the House Floor. During colloquy, Whip Hoyer asked Leader McCarthy when Republicans intend to bring their budget to the Floor. Given GOP division over the budget resolution, you won’t be surprised by Leader McCarthy’s response. Check it out here.

Today on the House Floor, House Democrats stood united against the anti-immigrant amicus brief resolution passed by House Republicans, which would challenge the President’s executive order on immigration. ICYMI during debate, Reps. Jared Polis, Luis Gutierrez, and Zoe Lofgren made parliamentary inquiries to highlight Republicans’ hypocrisy in challenging the President’s executive action.  You can watch the video here.