WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan’s national stature is such that he had to call a news conference to deny he wants to be president. Back on Capitol Hill, he’s about to blow through a statutory deadline to pass an annual budget, a major embarrassment for him and House Republicans.
Under the government’s arcane budget law, the House is supposed to produce a budget by Friday. But a tea party revolt over Ryan’s embrace of last year’s bipartisan deal with President Barack Obama to increase spending has left him well short of the votes he needs.
House Republicans met the budget deadline each of the five years they controlled the House under the leadership of John Boehner, who was ousted as speaker last fall in a tea party revolt.
