Rumors are swirling that Paul Ryan will step down

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) may not be long for Washington. HuffPost and Politico both reported that many Capitol Hill insiders believe Ryan intends to retire at the end of his term, ideally after he passes some of his personal legislative priorities — like, say, a tax overhaul bill and entitlement reform.

While Ryan told Politico's Jake Sherman on Thursday that he doesn't have any plans to leave Congress, he did admit that "passage of tax reform would be a high note" to leave on. Meanwhile, HuffPost reported that the House's conservative wing is worried that Ryan would make compromises with congressional Democrats that they would find intolerable in order to secure his legislative "white whale."

Additionally, conservative members of the House have already considered filing a motion to vacate the speakership, Politico reports, which could happen "as soon as next month." Should that fate befall Ryan, it would be similar to the plight of his predecessor, former Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), who retired from Congress rather than have his speakership usurped in a coup d'etat by conservative members of the House.

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Ryan has long claimed that the speakership was "not a job I ever wanted in the first place." Still, not everyone is happy about rumors of Ryan putting down his gavel. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) told Politico: "I just think that any talk of him leaving, I hope that's not true. It would be a major setback for our cause."

Read the full stories at Politico and HuffPost.