paul ryan can rest easy. donald trump's choice of republican national committee chairman reince priebus as his white house chief of staff sunday could not have played out better for the house speaker. ryan and priebus aren't just from the same state: they're close friends just two years apart in age who go back two decades in wisconsin politics. story continued below the selection all but guarantees that ryan will keep his job as house speaker <u+2014> an outcome that was very much in question just five days ago. not only that, he'll have a direct line to a white house occupied by a president with whom ryan butted heads repeatedly during the campaign. <u+201c>i'm very proud and excited for my friend @reince. congrats!<u+201d> ryan tweeted just minutes after trump made his pick. priebus was chosen over steve bannon, a fierce ryan critic who wanted him out of the speakership. bannon, however, will still have a prominent role as trump's chief strategist and counselor, an appointment also made on sunday. presidential transition by alex isenstadt and marc caputo trump<u+2019>s choice signals his desire to have a productive relationship with congress, and ryan in particular. the speaker for much of the 2016 presidential election branded himself as the republican alternative to trump. that angered the new york billionaire<u+2019>s top allies and trump himself, who at one point blasted ryan as a <u+201c>very weak and ineffective leader.<u+201d> bannon, the executive chairman of the alt-right news site breitbart, vowed revenge on ryan. bannon joined trump's campaign in august as ceo. but trump has signaled little appetite for payback against ryan since his election tuesday. some of the president-elect's capitol hill surrogates say he<u+2019>s more apt to work with ryan and utilize the speaker's policy chops and expertise than start an intra-party battle that might detract from the start of trump's presidency. priebus this year performed one of the great balancing acts in recent political history: standing by trump through the darkest days of his campaign but maintaining strong ties with the establishment republicans whom trump often alienated. congress by rachael bade ryan's allies are surely breathing a big sigh of relief. while ryan said on cnn<u+2019>s <u+201c>state of the union<u+201d> sunday that he had <u+201c>no concerns<u+201d> about bannon running the white house and <u+201c>we will work well with whomever<u+201d> trump picks, some people close to ryan fretted what the selection of the breitbart chief might bring. ryan and preibus met during ryan<u+2019>s first run for congress in the late 1990s, when preibus was a party activist in the district<u+2019>s kenosha county. they quickly became friends, helping each other raise money and win elections. along with wisconsin gov. scott walker, they were widely credited with the 2010 gop takeover of the wisconsin legislature and governor's mansion. the atlantic in 2012 dubbed them the <u+201c> cheesehead mafia " <u+2014> a trio of rising political stars from wisconsin who would become some of the most powerful men in the republican party. by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
priebus pick a big boon for ryan - politico
rachael bade alex isenstadt marc caputo rachael bade jack shafer