House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced Wednesday that he is not seeking re-election in November -- a move that ends a nearly two decade career in Congress and comes as the GOP girds for a tough fight to keep control of the House this year.
Ryan said in a press conference after meeting with House lawmakers that his primary motivation was so he could spend more time with his wife and children, who he said he did not want to remember him as a “weekend Dad.”
“If I am here for one more term, my kids will only ever have known me as a weekend Dad -- I just can’t let that happen,” he said.
Ryan, who was first elected to Congress in 1998, said he believes Congress has achieved “a heck of a lot” under his leadership as speaker since 2015.
