Timeline: Ryan’s first year as Speaker

Happy Anniversary, Paul Ryan.

Saturday marks exactly a year since lawmakers elected the Wisconsin Republican as the 54th Speaker of the House.

{mosads}The decision by his predecessor, John Boehner (R-Ohio), to “clean the barn” with a major budget deal before handing over the gavel means that Ryan hasn’t had to deal with many legislative deadlines in his first year.

Instead, Ryan’s uneasy relationship with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has been one of the biggest stories of a tumultuous election year.

Here’s a highlight reel of Ryan’s first year with the Speaker’s gavel. 

Oct. 29, 2015: Ryan sworn in as Speaker of the House

Ryan was reluctantly drafted into running for Speaker after House Republicans struggled to find someone they could unite behind.

After House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dropped out of the running, Ryan used his leverage to pressure the three main factions of the House GOP conference — the centrist Tuesday Group, the conservative Republican Study Committee, and the Freedom Caucus — to back him, saying he wouldn’t run for Speaker without unified support.

The tactic worked. Ryan handily won the floor vote for the speakership with only nine conservatives defecting to long-shot Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.).

Dec. 8, 2015: Ryan’s first break with Trump

Trump offered one of his most controversial policy proposals in response to terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, urging a “shutdown” of Muslims coming to the United States.

In response, Ryan delivered the first of several rebukes of the eventual nominee.

Banning Muslims, Ryan said without mentioning Trump by name, “is not what this party stands for, and more importantly, it’s not what this country stands for.” 

Over the next several months, Ryan scolded Trump for failing to quickly disavow support from white supremacists, stoking violence at campaign rallies and for tweeting an image derided as anti-Semitic.

Dec. 18, 2015: Passage of omnibus spending package 

The $1.1 trillion spending package to keep the government funded through fiscal 2016 passed with a majority of the House GOP conference, a departure from some past measures carried mostly by Democrats.

While many Republicans disliked the contents of the massive bill, they did not blame Ryan because the framework came from the Boehner-negotiated budget deal. Intense lobbying by leadership of both parties helped bring the omnibus over the finish line with a strong bipartisan vote when liberals and conservatives initially balked.

Jan. 13, 2016: Ryan cracks the whip on punctuality

If there’s been one significant change to the day-to-day House culture under Ryan, it’s this: the House runs on time. During his tenure, Boehner occasionally lectured members on the floor to be on time for votes and dress appropriately, but his admonishments were never enforced.

At first, Ryan tried asking nicely. When that didn’t work a week later, Ryan abruptly ordered that a vote on an Iran sanctions bill be closed after the allotted 15 minutes. More than 130 lawmakers accustomed to taking their time walking to the House floor consequently missed the vote. The House later conducted a do-over of the vote so that those members could vote on the measure. Since then, there’s been a marked improvement in lawmakers’ timeliness.

April 12, 2016: Ryan rules out presidential run 

As chaotic GOP presidential primary unfolded with Trump as the front-runner, some establishment-minded Republicans began urging Ryan to run for president or become a “white knight” nominee at the convention.

The calls grew louder after Ryan gave a March speech to a group of Capitol Hill interns calling for civility in politics, and his office released a series of videos that some thought resembled campaign ads.

Ryan, the 2012 vice presidential nominee, doused the speculation with a formal news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters. “I do not want, nor will I accept, the nomination of our party.”

April 15, 2016: House fails to pass a budget 

Republicans in both chambers decided not to pass a budget resolution for the first time since taking over the majority — an embarrassing moment for Ryan, given his past tenure as chairman of the House Budget Committee. 

For years, Republicans in both chambers had blasted Democrats for not passing budget resolutions while they were in the majority. House GOP leaders were unable to find a coalition to pass a budget since conservatives wanted to break with the fall budget deal and establish lower spending levels. 

May 24, 2016: Cracking down on an open floor process

When Republicans took over the House majority in 2011, Boehner brought back the use of a freewheeling floor procedure known as an “open rule” to consider annual appropriations bills. The process allows members of either party to offer as many amendments as they want, unlike most legislation where the majority leadership controls what gets floor time. 

Then Democrats discovered they could paint Republicans into a political corner by forcing votes on amendments stoking culture wars over displaying the Confederate flag and prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. 

What Republicans had originally touted as a “return to regular order” backfired spectacularly when those measures twice brought down underlying spending bills. Ryan eventually proposed a more limited process for leadership to cherry-pick which amendments could get floor time to add more predictability and protect members from tough votes.

May 5, 2016: Ryan declines to endorse Trump

Trump’s effective clinching of the GOP presidential nomination prompted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus to fall in line behind him. Ryan took a different course. 

In a bombshell interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ryan said he was “just not ready” to support Trump despite saying for months he’d support whoever became the nominee. Trump fired back by saying he was “not ready to support Speaker Ryan’s agenda.” Ryan met with Trump and Priebus in a high-profile meeting on Capitol Hill but still didn’t offer an endorsement.  

June 2, 2016: Ryan halfheartedly endorses Trump

Ryan eventually made his endorsement official with an op-ed in his hometown Wisconsin paper during the House’s Memorial Day recess. He argued that Trump would be more likely to enact the House GOP’s policy agenda into law than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. 

“It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind. But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement,” Ryan wrote.

June 6, 2016: House GOP agenda rollout overshadowed by Trump

Ryan and other members of the House GOP leadership had hoped to secure positive media attention by unveiling the first policy plank of the formal House GOP agenda, titled “A Better Way.”

But instead of getting questions from reporters about the plan to reduce poverty, Ryan was asked about Trump’s latest controversy du jour — his claim that an Indiana-born judge overseeing a case against Trump University is biased because of his Mexican heritage.

Ryan’s called Trump’s statement “the textbook definition of racist comments.” 

June 22, 2016: Democrats take over the House floor

House Democrats staged an unprecedented sit-in for nearly 26 hours on the House floor to call for votes on gun control legislation after the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

Nearly 12 hours after the sit-in began, Ryan decided to forge ahead with previously scheduled votes on legislation while Democrats kept going with their sit-in. In an extraordinary break of decorum, Democrats shouted down Ryan with chants of “Where’s the bill?” House GOP leaders said afterward they would rebuke Democrats for the sit-in, but so far no formal punishment has occurred.

Republicans nonetheless felt pressured to respond legislatively to the Orlando massacre. House GOP leaders initially unveiled a package of “anti-terror” legislation, which included a provision allowing the attorney general to halt a gun sale to someone on the government’s terror watch list for up to three days. But the bill didn’t have enough votes to pass. 

July 18, 2016: Ryan presides over the GOP convention

Ryan frequently joked that he only learned of his duties to preside over the GOP convention in Cleveland after he became Speaker. Chairing the convention meant Ryan had to oversee Trump’s coronation despite his clear misgivings. Ryan only mentioned Trump by name twice in his nearly 1,500-word prime-time address and said at a Wall Street Journal event the day before that Trump was “not my kind of conservative.” 

Aug. 2, 2016: Ryan handily beats primary challenger

Trump, angered by Ryan dragging out his endorsement earlier in the year, decided to return the favor. Days after the GOP convention, Trump declined to endorse Ryan over his long-shot primary challenger, Paul Nehlen. “I’m not quite there yet,” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post, using wording similar to Ryan’s two months before.

Trump eventually endorsed Ryan and two other GOP senators amid pressure from other top Republicans. Ryan won the primary in a landslide, beating Nehlen by nearly 70 points.  

Oct. 7, 2016: Ryan calls off Trump appearance

Ryan initially invited Trump to campaign together for the first time at an annual “Fall Fest” in his Wisconsin district. It was clear Ryan wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about it from the start. A release announcing the event didn’t mention Trump until the third paragraph, never mind the subject line.

But Ryan scrapped the plan and disinvited Trump the night before their scheduled event after The Washington Post published a tape where Trump bragging about using his celebrity to grope and kiss woman. 

A few days later, Ryan announced on a House GOP conference call that he wouldn’t try to defend Trump anymore.

What now? 

Conservatives angered by Ryan’s decision to distance himself from Trump have indicated they might back an alternative candidate for Speaker. So far, though, no credible candidate has emerged.

In the meantime, Ryan is barnstorming the country for House GOP candidates to help stave off losses on Election Day. Republicans are still favored to hold the House this year, but the number of seats lost to Democrats will play heavily into how much support Ryan gets for another term as Speaker.

Adding to the challenge ahead, Ryan after the election will have to steer another spending package through the House to avoid a government shutdown in December.