Ryan and McConnell's plan

Ryan and McConnell's plan for Donald Trump

The GOP leaders have an almost impossible task in figuring out how to deal with the incendiary front-runner.

By Jake Sherman, Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan

In the era of Donald Trump, they see themselves as the steadfast guardians of the Republican creed.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have an almost impossible political task as the real estate mogul steamrolls to the nomination: strategically distancing themselves from the Republican standard-bearer, keeping a close watch on their party's brand — all the while trying to keep Congress in GOP hands in November.

The rules of engagement have been blurry from the start. Ryan and McConnell mostly held their fire after Trump hurled insults at television personalities, the handicapped, popular statewide officials and war heroes. But with their congressional majorities on the line, the GOP leaders' election-season role is becoming clearer: They feel compelled to speak up when they believe the New York billionaire is perverting what it means to be a Republican.

It hasn’t happened too often — yet. But both Ryan and McConnell on Tuesday denounced Trump’s apparent reluctance to disavow former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. And Ryan previously criticized Trump’s plan to ban all Muslims from the United States.

"Neither of them are going to engage in ad hominem attacks on any of the respective Republican candidates, but they will speak up when they think any Republican principles are being violated," said Josh Holmes, a top McConnell confidant. "And both feel an obligation, in a circumstance like this, to speak very clearly on what the Republican Party is about."

Neither McConnell nor Ryan will try to push Trump aside, not that they could even if they wanted to. They have steered clear of an endorsement, saying only that they will support the eventual nominee.

But declining in real time to disavow white supremacists and threatening to undermine the First Amendment is a step too far, according to people familiar with the leaders’ thinking. And people close to both men vow they will continue to speak out if Trump gets out of line.

This is also about political survival. The two men are trying to protect their majorities on Capitol Hill.

“I think he’s being very measured and appropriate,” Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said of Ryan. “What you don’t want to do is end up in a back-and-forth on every single thing somebody says. Whether it’s a candidate for president, [or] your opponent. ... [But] there are some things that occur in campaigns that are so egregious, it’s important for a leader to say something. And I think that was one of these situations.”

Walden added that it’s not Ryan’s job to go further. “His responsibility is to put out a positive agenda here that we can work on here when we're here [and] campaign on when we’re at home and provide his perspective on things.”

McConnell and Ryan's message, delivered on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, generated headlines on what might be Trump's most triumphant day on the campaign trail. The two men did not coordinate, but they had the same reaction when they saw that Trump did not disavow Duke.

Ryan (R-Wis.) said, “This party does not prey on people’s prejudices.” McConnell (R-Ky.) said, “Let me make it clear: Senate Republicans condemn David Duke, the KKK and racism. That is not the view of Republicans that have been elected to the United States Senate."

He added, "Beyond what I just said, I'm going to continue to avoid weighing in on the presidential contest at this point."

Trump was asked about the congressional leaders' criticism at a news conference after he racked up big wins on Super Tuesday. "I’m going to get along great with Congress, OK?" Trump said. "Paul Ryan, I don’t know him well, but I’m sure I’m going to get along great with him. And if I don’t? He’s gonna have to pay a big price, OK?”

Inside the leadership of both the House and Senate, there’s a strong reluctance to get into a back-and-forth with Trump. It would likely only hurt congressional Republicans, they believe, and help Trump continue to rail against Congress.

Ryan also believes if he speaks out consistently, it loses impact. So he's limiting his retorts, allies say, to when Trump speaks out against the party's core beliefs.

"I think Paul’s playing it honest and straight up," said Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), a top NRCC official who has endorsed Gov. John Kasich. "He’s saying 'Some of the things this guy is doing doesn’t represent what I believe, or what I believe my party believes,' but I also heard him say he plans to vote for the Republican nominee. It’s an important balance that we have to hold everybody together while standing up for what we all believe.

"We find ourselves in interesting times," Stivers added.

McConnell has a long history of speaking out on issues involving racial discrimination. Having lived through the Jim Crow era in the South, he is acutely aware of the high price paid by those who fought for years to overcome entrenched discrimination.

Some in the Capitol believe there’s a slight upside in Trump’s candidacy. They don’t believe he has deeply held beliefs, and therefore can be persuaded to adopt the House GOP’s forthcoming agenda. Others say a Trump-fueled increase in voter turnout could help the party in some races.

"Someone is going to sit down and have a discussion with him at some point, whether it's [McConnell and Ryan] or someone else, and they're going to tell him, 'Look, we understand that you're running for president, but everything you say affects us all, so please think about that,'" said one Republican senator up for reelection this fall. "It may or may not make a difference, but [Trump] will know we'll do what we have to do."

Another thing Ryan is making clear: He will not, under any circumstance, step in and run against Trump.

Former House Speaker John Boehner has casually mentioned in off-the-cuff conversations that Ryan would be a good option in the “unlikely scenario” that the GOP is “unable to coalesce around a nominee before the convention and someone is needed to step up late in the game and unify the party,” according to a spokesman, Dave Schnittger.

But Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said, “In addition to this being an incredibly remote scenario, the speaker has no interest in it.”