Paul Ryan says he won't be 'dictator' of the House

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said in an interview airing Sunday on Face the Nation that he plans to lead by consensus.

"I was not elected dictator of the House," he told host John Dickerson. "I was elected speaker of the House. And that means we do it in a bottom-up approach. We reach consensus."

He was elected to the leadership role Thursday, after weeks of scrambling from the hard-to-control House GOP caucus over who should replace John Boehner. Ryan pulled a "full Ginsburg" on Sunday, appearing on all five major morning talk shows.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

"As Republicans, we have common principles. We need to take those common principles and apply them to the problems of the day through consensus to show the country a better way forward," Ryan said. "And it's my job to lead to that consensus, but not to dictate that consensus."