Ryan ‘still not running’ for Speaker

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is “still not running for Speaker,” a spokesman said Friday.

{mosads}Brendan Buck said that “Chairman Ryan appreciates the support he’s getting from his colleagues,” but emphasized that the 2012 vice presidential nominee wouldn’t seek to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Ryan first said he wouldn’t run for Speaker after Boehner announced his resignation last month, and then reiterated he didn’t want the job after Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) surprisingly backed out of the race.

But a host of GOP lawmakers have said that Ryan is the one House Republican who can unite their fractured conference, and it’s unclear whether another statement will stop them from lobbying the Ways and Means chairman to take the Speaker’s gavel.