Do it again???

Paul Ryan coy on 2017

By Zachary Warmbrodt

Paul Ryan is enjoying the job of House speaker "more than I thought I would," but he's declining to say whether he would want to stay at the post in 2017.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, host Chuck Todd asked the Wisconsin Republican twice whether he would want to remain speaker after 2016. Ryan took the reins from John Boehner in October.

"I just haven't been thinking about it," he said. "I stepped into the breach, stepped up when I had a duty and an obligation to do so. I'm excited about the potential. I'm excited about the opportunity. I feel blessed and honored to have this position."

Ryan said President Barack Obama had just invited him to have a meal after the first of the year. Outside of a Christmas party and a couple of phone calls, they haven't had a formal one-on-one meeting since Ryan became speaker.

Ryan said criminal justice reform "is one of those areas that we've talked about getting things done."

"We don't agree on much," Ryan said. "We see things very differently. I think what we will probably try to do is where we can get things done, where we can find common ground without compromising principles, get those things done. Make sure that government works. But we're going to have one heck of a contrast in 2016."