SHOT

HEADLINE: Ryan calls for unity, less anger from fractious GOP. “House Speaker Paul Ryan called on Republicans Wednesday to unify and stop fighting angrily among themselves as he tried steering his fractious party into an election year devoid of the heated showdowns between conservatives and pragmatists that transformed parts of 2015 into a GOP nightmare.” (2/3/16, Associated Press)

CHASER

HEADLINE: Paul Ryan Hosts Budget Meeting With House Freedom Caucus. It Didn’t Go Well. “Freedom Caucus members spent roughly two hours urging Ryan to put forward a budget that reverts to the spending figure set under sequestration, the across-the-board spending cuts imposed in 2013. Two caucus members described the meeting as ‘intense.’” (2/3/16, Huffington Post)