Ahead of Speaker Ryan’s CNN appearance tonight, it’s important to review the spectacular failure that was the first 200 days of unified Republican control of Washington. Earlier this year, Ryan rolled out a bold (while incredibly misguided) 200-day agenda, which included repealing the Affordable Care Act, overhauling our tax code, funding an infrastructure package, passing two budgets, avoiding a debt default, rebuilding our military, and moving towards energy independence, among other promises. It was immediately clear that the American people strongly reject what Republicans are offering, and as a result of the massive grassroots backlash across the country, Republicans failed to land a single legislative achievement.
Unsurprisingly, Speaker Ryan’s popularity with voters across the country and his credibility with members of his own caucus is plummeting. At the end of March, and shortly after the first repeal failure, Ryan’s approval had dropped down to 33%. In April, Pew found that only 29% of people approved of the job that he is doing and another had him dropping to 22% favorability. A May survey – the month the House passed their repeal bill – found that only 27% of people have a favorable view of Ryan.
Potentially most embarrassingly for Ryan, it has been increasingly unclear whether Paul Ryan or Mark Meadows wields the most power in the House. This power vacuum has been reinforced by headlines like “Breitbart campaigns for Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows as House Speaker” and conservative firebrands Justin Amash, Jeanine Pirro, and Lou Dobbs calling for Ryan to step down.
“Speaker Ryan has achieved nothing, is increasingly unpopular with voters, and is undeniably unfit to lead his divided caucus,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law. “From trying to rip health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans, to playing chicken with the debt ceiling and government funding, to failing to pass a budget, no amount of explaining will change how badly the American people view his imperiled Republican majority.”