Freedom Caucus Member on Paul Ryan: ‘I’m Not Sure He Wants the Job’

BOLDUAN: “’He'll be doing fine.’ Let's bring in Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Congressman, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for coming back in.” 
MASSIE: “Thanks for having me, Kate. So, will you back Paul Ryan?” 
MASSIE: “You know, I'm not sure he wants the job. His list of demands were so bold, they pass into almost the unreasonable. We did a nationwide search for a CEO once at my company, and we had some guy show up that said, I want to make sure I can't be fired, and I'm not going to work on weekends. Needless to say, we didn't hire that guy because we didn't think he wanted the job.” 
BERMAN: “I don't think he just answered our question, congressman. Are you going to vote for Paul Ryan for speaker? 
MASSIE: “I'm going to vote for Daniel Webster for speaker. They both want to bring the conference together. They just disagree on how it should be done. Paul Ryan thinks the speaker needs more power, and Daniel Webster thinks that the members need more power. So we all have the same goal here. It's just sort of a difference of opinion on how to get there.” 
BOLDUAN: “Let's look at some of this bold list of demands that you're talking about that you think is borderline unreasonable. He wants the party to come together. He wants to be a unifying figure. He does want to change house rules that the rules are made as a team, if you will. He also wants better work/life balance. He said he's not going to travel as much to raise money. How bold really are these demands?” 
MASSIE: “Well, you know, to make sure that everybody will vote for him is a bold list. He said that he wanted every caucus in the GOP to be for him. But I'd like to remind him the chairman of the Tea Party caucus and the chairman of the Liberty Caucus are two guys he kicked off the budget committee. So it could be tough to get unanimity. I really appreciate his desire to spend time with his family. Frankly, that's why I wouldn't take the job for speaker. I mean, that's a tough decision right there. But I think it's sort of an unreasonable demand to say you're not going to work on weekends.” 
BERMAN: “Congressman, is Paul Ryan going to be your next speaker, though? Do you think that you -- and I've heard a few other names -- say they would not support him? Do you think you have the votes to block him?” 
MASSIE: “I'm not -- again, I'm not sure he wants the job. I think this might have been a good way that he's turning down the job. It's going to be close. Let me just say that.” 
BERMAN: “So you think there are others besides you willing to stand up –“
MASSIE: “Yeah.” 
BERMAN: “-- and not give Paul Ryan the unanimity you say he wants?” 
MASSIE: “That's right. Daniel Webster is still in the race and there are a lot of people as of this morning still backing Daniel Webster.” 
BOLDUAN: “What could you hear from Paul Ryan that's going to change it? What I'm hearing right now is nothing.” 
MASSIE: “Well, he'd have to say he wants to give up some of the power instead of have more power. And even if he got –“ [Crosstalk]
BOLDUAN: “Congressman, you are not going to get that from anyone who's actually going to win the job as speaker of the House.” 
MASSIE: “That's what Daniel Webster says. I think it's the only winnable platform if you're trying to get everybody to be for you, and the grass roots. The grass roots are why John Boehner's leaving.” 
BERMAN: “You're why.” 
MASSIE: “Well –“
BERMAN: “You're why John Boehner's leaving.” 
BOLDUAN: “It's called you.” 
BERMAN: “You and other members like you and other members stopped Kevin McCarthy from taking over the job. nThat's not a criticism. I think that's just basically a statement of fact. You guys got in the way of Kevin McCarthy becoming speaker. So my question to you is, what have you won at this point? You helped push Boehner out of office. You helped Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker. Now the guy who looks like he may get the job, the White House says they like him a lot, they say they like making deals with Paul Ryan. He may emerge to that chair with that gavel with more power than any speaker over the last decade.” 
MASSIE: “Well, I recognize the White House and Harry Reid may be trolling us by saying they like Paul Ryan. They might like the disruption. But let me tell you what is going to come out of this chaos. Concurrent with the speaker race is an effort to change the rules of the House, the way this place works. And regardless of who wins, I think we are going to get some changes in the way this place works.” 
BOLDUAN: “On this demand that he's making, on this list of demands, especially the demand that he's not going to give up family time is one thing. That stuck out to a lot of people that, wow, this is a man who's trying to figure out a work/life balance that a lot of us haven't been able to accomplish. You think he's trying to demand his way out of contention, though?” 
MASSIE: “That's what I think. And look, I'm sympathetic to his demands. If you say that the speaker's job now includes getting to go home every weekend to your family, I expect we have 50 more people that would take the job under those conditions.” 
BOLDUAN: “Congressman Thomas Massie, it's great to see you. Thank you so much. Keep us updated.” 
MASSIE: “Thanks, John and Kate. All right. I will.” 
BERMAN: “We're marking you down as a no. We're marking you down as a no vote.” 
BOLDUAN: “A soft no, maybe? We'll see. We'll check with you tomorrow.” 
MASSIE: “A no for Paul Ryan, a yes for Daniel Webster.” 
BERMAN: “Congressman, great to have you with us. Thank you.”
MASSIE: “Thank you.”