(CNN) –Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced in a tweet Tuesday he dropped out of the run for Speaker of the House.
Rep. Paul Ryan told House Republicans he is “willing to serve” as speaker and will make a decision within the week, Rep. Darrell Issa said Tuesday night. But he’ll run only if he’s supported by three groups inside the House Republican conference: the House Freedom Caucus, the Republican Study Committee and a group of moderates he met with on Tuesday, Issa said.
Ryan spent the day engaging in a flurry of back-channel conversations with GOP lawmakers as an anxious Republican Party eagerly awaits his decision. He discussed the possibility of seeking the speakership on the phone with fellow lawmakers and met with members of the House Freedom Caucus and the Southern Caucus.
Ryan addressed his deliberations with the full GOP conference during a closed-door dinner.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2015 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
