Rep. Paul Ryan not interested in replacing John Boehner as House speaker

MADISON -- Rep. Paul Ryan is not interested in replacing Rep. John Boehner as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Boehner announced Friday that he will be resigning at the end of October. Ryan's spokesman says the Republican from Janesville is not interested in the post. Ryan is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Ryan says in a statement that Boehner's decision to step down is "an act of pure selflessness."

He calls Boehner "a great leader of the Republican Party and the House of Representatives."

U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner said Friday that Boehner ended up "being the scapegoat" for not being able to overcome filibustering Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

Sensenbrenner calls the speaker's job "thankless."

Rep. Paul Ryan released the following statement Friday, September 25th.