USAToday.com:
Rep. Paul Ryan, just seven weeks into his new job as House speaker, brought the legislative year to a drama-free close on Friday with a major bipartisan agreement on taxes and spending.RELATED: Obama Praises New House Speaker Paul Ryan on $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill: ‘Kudos to Him’
The votes on that agreement, the last ones in Congress until lawmakers return next year, clear the decks for what Ryan promises will be an aggressive, conservative agenda in 2016.
Ryan lost 95 Republican votes on the $1.1 trillion spending bill that the House approved Friday. But he said he's still optimistic about crafting a a 2016 legislative strategy that can win over hardline conservatives and even help the GOP retake the White House.
“My goal is to help unify the conservative movement so we can unify the Republican Party so… that the citizens of this nation get to choose in 2016 what kind of country they want to have in the 21st century,” the Wisconsin lawmaker said. “It’s nothing short of a generational defining moment we are facing next year.”
When Congress returns in January, Ryan said he expects quick work on criminal justice reform and legislation to improve screening of Syrian refugees. He also mentioned consideration of a new resolution to authorize the use of military force against the jihadist Islamic State, and proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Mostly, however, Ryan talked about overhauling how the House operates. His earlier promises to make it more inclusive, open and collegial already have bought him goodwill from the conservatives who revolted against his predecessor as House speaker, Rep. John Boehner.
Rolling all of the unfinished fiscal 2016 spending bills into one 2,000-page package and bypassing the regular process of floor amendments wasn't ideal, yet 150 Republicans supported it on Friday.
“They knew I inherited this situation,” Ryan said.
Outside the Capitol, however, conservative interest groups already are unhappy, noting that the massive spending measure doesn't impose stricter limits on immigration, Syrian refugees or abortion providers. Two of those groups, Heritage Action for America and Club for Growth, urged lawmakers to vote against it. In the end, most of the yes votes came from Democrats.
Asked if he believes such outside groups will impede his agenda as speaker, Ryan said that "people who have been lifelong members of the conservative movement know me as one of their own."
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