Paul Ryan Talks Sleeping in Office, Boehner's Smoke

And new speaker will not be acting on immigration reform
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2015 3:02 PM CST
Paul Ryan Talks Sleeping in Office, Boehner's Smoke
The new sign for new House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., is seen above the hallway leading to Ryan's office on Capitol Hill, Friday, Oct. 30, 2015.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Our new speaker of the House is a little short in the "house" department—he's among the nation's representatives who opt to sleep in their offices instead of paying DC rent—and Paul Ryan says that won't change with his new gig, reports Roll Call. "I live in Janesville, Wisconsin. I commute back and forth every week. I just work here. I don’t live here," he said, per Politico. "I get up very early in the morning. I work out. I work until about 11:30 at night. I go to bed, and I do the same thing the next day. It actually makes me more efficient. I can actually get more work done by sleeping on a cot in my office, and I’m going to keep doing it." Ryan spoke Sunday with all five major talk shows. Highlights:

  • On why he won't address immigration reform: "I think it would be a ridiculous notion to try and work on an issue like this with a president we simply cannot trust on this issue," Ryan said, per the New York Times. "He tried to go it alone, circumventing the legislative process with his executive orders, so that is not in the cards."

  • On defunding Planned Parenthood: "I don't think Planned Parenthood should get a red cent from the taxpayer. But I believe we need to do our oversight," he said, via Real Clear Politics. "By not controlling the process ... I don't know what the outcome is going to be."
  • About that office. It smells like John Boehner's cigarettes: "We’ve been talking about that, they have these ozone machines, apparently, that you can [use to] detoxify the environment. But I’m going to have to work on the carpeting in here. You know when you ever go to a hotel room or get a rental car that has been smoked in? That’s what this smells like."
  • On giving up White House aspirations: "If I really wanted to be president, I would have run in this cycle for the presidency," he tells CNN. "I had the chance and opportunity to do so and I chose not to do that. I'm perfectly happy and content with this decision."
(More Paul Ryan stories.)

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