Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan announced on April 10 that he would not seek re-election this fall.
Many Republican politicians have expressed their gratitude for his service to this nation and his effectiveness as speaker.
On Twitter, President Donald Trump wrote, “Speaker Paul Ryan is a truly good man, and while he will not be seeking re-election, he will leave a legacy of achievement that nobody can question. We are with you Paul!”
Though his character is hard to argue against, Ryan was largely ineffective as speaker since the 2016 elections.
Several of the measures that President Trump and Republicans campaigned on, such as building a border wall and repealing and replacing Obamacare, were not passed.
At the time of the 2016 elections, in which Republicans won the Senate, House and White House, 45 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Obamacare compared to 43 percent that had a favorable opinion.
After the election, Speaker Ryan had over two months to meet with fellow Republican leaders to establish a plan to ensure Obamacare would be repealed, but he didn’t.
Though the House did vote to repeal Obamacare in March 2017, its proposed bill had many flaws in it that Republican senators did not approve of, causing the repeal effort to fail.
Speaker Ryan not only failed to deliver on that campaign promise but also failed to include in his budget significant funding for the Republican Party’s biggest campaign promise: The Wall.
When President Trump first announced his candidacy, he promised the American voters that if he were to get elected, he’d build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico to crack down on illegal immigration.
From that point forward, at nearly every campaign rally, debate or interview, President Trump always promised the American public a “great, big, beautiful wall.”
In the 2019 Fiscal Budget approved by Speaker Ryan and other Republicans, President Trump was only granted $1.6 billion for The Wall, which isn’t adequate.
It is estimated that The Wall will cost $70 billion to build. This was a campaign promise President Trump desperately needed to fill before midterm elections.
Speaker Ryan’s subpar leadership abilities, as well as his weak resolve to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promises, could cause the Republicans to lose their Congressional majority.
In a poll conducted on April 12 by FiveThirtyEight, the Democrats have a strong edge over the Republicans: 46 percent to 39 percent.
Tyler Jordon is a senior political science major from Charleston, West Virginia.
