Via Newsmax:
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s announcement that he will step down from Congress—predicted by Newsmax on April 4—paves the way for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise to assume the speaker’s gavel in January.
But that scenario depends on Republicans keeping their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives this fall. With 38 Republican House members resigning, retiring, or seeking another office, Democrats are positioned better than ever to pick up the 25 seats they need to take control of the House and make Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaker.
Should Republicans become a minority in the House this fall, it is unclear who would become minority leader. Present House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is technically in line to assume the leadership if Republicans become a minority. But McCarthy could step aside and allow Scalise, R-La.—who, as Whip, is next in line in the Republican hierarchy — to step up and become minority leader.