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 Following a week of near-seclusion in his home state of Wisconsin
during a congressional recess, Ryan, a former vice presidential
candidate who is in his ninth term in the House, told his fellow
Republicans that he might be willing to seek the top job.
Many Republicans, who have the majority in the House, have been
urging Ryan to run. He said Tuesday he would do so only if he
receives a clear message of support by the end of the week from all
sides of the badly splintered House Republicans, including the
endorsement of various groups.
"What I told the members is, if you can agree to these requests, and
I can truly be a unifying figure, then I will gladly serve," Ryan,
chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means committee, told reporters
after the meeting with House Republicans.
"This is not a job I've ever wanted," he said, but added that he had
concluded the United States was in "desperate need of leadership."
 House Republicans have been in turmoil since Boehner announced last
month he wanted to retire after years of battles with right-wingers
in the party.
The same right wingers, many of them members of the conservative
House Freedom Caucus, then opposed Boehner's expected successor,
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who subsequently bowed out of
the race.
Ryan, in an apparent reference to Boehner and McCarthy, told
Republicans Tuesday that he did not want to be "the third log on the
fire," Representative Peter King told reporters.
But Ryan laid down conditions that could anger the conservatives. He
said he wanted a House rules change that would remove the ability of
any member of the chamber to seek a vote to eject the speaker.
Such a threat, coming from conservatives, was hanging over Boehner
in the weeks before he announced his resignation, effective Oct. 30.
According to King, Ryan said: "I am willing to take arrows in the
chest, but I won't take them in the back".
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Before meeting with all House Republicans, Ryan met Tuesday with
leaders of the Freedom Caucus. Afterwards, some of the conservative
lawmakers described it as a positive session, but it was unclear
what their next step would be. The group has already endorsed
another candidate, conservative Daniel Webster.
Conservatives have sought changes in House rules in an effort to
empower individual lawmakers. Ryan said Tuesday he agreed rule
changes needed to be made, but that this must be done by consensus.
Ryan also said he wants to be freed from some of the time-consuming
tasks that Boehner performed while speaker since January 2011.
Boehner spent many weekends traveling the United States seeking
campaign donations for fellow Republicans.
"I cannot and will not give up my family time" Ryan told reporters.
He has three young children.
Boehner is expected to announce on Wednesday the date for
Republicans to nominate their candidate for speaker. If Ryan decides
at week's end not to run for speaker, it is unclear who would emerge
as a front-runner, adding to the chaos that has plagued Republicans
over the past month.
But one already-announced candidate, Jason Chaffetz, withdrew from
the race on Tuesday, saying he would support Ryan.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and David Lawder; Editing by
Kevin Drawbaugh, Sandra Maler, Leslie Adler and Bernard Orr)
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