Ryan’s Leadership Is Tested by GOP’s Civil War on Health Bill
The test for Mr. Ryan is whether he can make the leap from serving as the architect of conservative policy, a role he played for years as the party’s leading budget author, to the more difficult role of guiding legislation into law. The task is much tougher now than when Republicans passed bills with the knowledge that a Democratic president would veto them.
.. GOP lawmakers say that Mr. Ryan’s style of building support relies more on PowerPoint presentations than more muscular forms of persuasion. “It’s not Paul Ryan’s style to ‘hot box’ people,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), one of Mr. Ryan’s allies. “In some previous regimes, there was a lot of arm twisting. With Paul Ryan, you get a lot of persuading and listening.”
.. If his powers of persuasion come up short, it will be Mr. Ryan’s most high-profile stumble as speaker and a sign that the fractious House GOP conference is beyond his control.
.. He has sought their input more often and at earlier stages of developing legislation, and he has allowed conservatives to hold more seats in the higher echelons of House GOP leadership meetings. He publicly defers to committees and frequently appears on television to give vulnerable Republicans cover on the toughest bills.
.. “If you get 85% of what you want, that’s pretty darn good,” he said.