WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — As House Republicans hunkered down here for a two-day retreat to discuss the future of their conference, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin warned members that they had to “recognize the realities of the divided government that we have” and urged members to unite behind leadership on the coming fiscal debates.
Mr. Ryan, the chairman of the budget committee, told reporters that he thought some of the divisiveness that had plagued House Republicans under the leadership of Speaker John A. Boehner would most likely subside once members understand the coming battles and challenges.
“I think what matters most is people have a very clear view of what’s coming so that there are no surprises, and that means setting expectations accordingly, so that we can proceed in a unified basis,” Mr. Ryan said. “And the reason we’re doing this kind of facilitation right now is we want every member to understand all of the issues and all of the consequences, so that we can come together with consensus on a plan and move forward and proceed.”
Referring to the end of the previous Congress, which left the House, the Senate and the White House racing against a deadline to pass legislation to offset across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts needed to avert a financial crisis, he added, “We have the time to do that, whereas before it was a little more rushed, and we didn’t have the time.”
The former vice presidential candidate has maintained a low profile since returning to Congress, but he surprised some when he voted with Mr. Boehner on the tax deal devised by the White House and Senate Republicans to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.
Mr. Ryan also signaled that his conference might be flexible when it comes to the coming debate about the debt limit.
“We’re discussing the possible virtue of a short-term debt limit extension so that we have a better chance of getting the Senate and White House involved in discussions in March,” he said.
But reining in outsize spending and a soaring deficit still remains a top Republican priority, Mr. Ryan emphasized.
“We think the worst thing for the economy for this Congress and this administration would be to do nothing to get our debt and deficits under control,” he said. “We think the worst thing for the economy is to move past these events that are occurring with no progress made on the debt and deficits.”
He added: “We know we have a debt crisis coming. This is not an ‘if’ question, it’s a ‘when’ question.”
