WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Paul Ryan defied skeptics who thought his party would never get the sweeping tax overhaul bill to President Donald Trump’s desk by Christmas. The Wisconsin Republican says the key was uniting Republicans behind a common plan from the start – and relying on them to do what comes naturally: Cut taxes.
House passage of the GOP’s long-sought tax bill is the capstone of Ryan’s career.
But the bipartisan agenda ahead for early next year threatens to splinter his party and inflame the hard right. Washington rumors have Ryan calling it quits soon, but he assured his colleagues Tuesday that he’s not leaving his job “anytime soon.”
Ryan says that Republican divisions on taxes were relatively minor when compared to the party’s pratfall on health care.