美国有线新闻 CNN 美众议院议长不再竞选连任 共和党中期选举遭受打击（在线收听）

There's a significant change ahead for the U.S. House of Representatives and that's the first story we're explaining this Thursday on CNN 10.

Since 2015, Paul Ryan, a Republican from the state of Wisconsin, has led the House of Representatives as House speaker. The majority party in the House chooses its speaker. And the position is important not only for its House leadership but because it's also in line to the presidency, behind the president and vice president.

Speaker Ryan played a major role in the Republican tax reform bill that was signed into law last December. He's helped roll back banking rules that were enacted under Democratic leadership and he's helped the Republican Party raised funding for the upcoming midterm elections this fall.

So, why did he announce yesterday that he'd leave the House at the end of his term in January?

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Look, you all know me. I didn't take this job to get the gavel in the first place. I'm not a guy who thinks about it like that. This really was two things, I have accomplished much of what I came here to do and my kids aren't getting any younger, and if I stay, they're only going to know me as a weekend dad and that's just something I consciously can't do. And that's really it right there.

AZUZ: Speaker Ryan hasn't always seen eye to eye with President Trump though they're both Republicans and some political analysts say Democrats have a good chance of winning control of the House in November's midterm elections. So, they see Speaker Ryan's departure as a bad sign for Republicans.

Ryan says he's confident that Republicans will keep control of the House, that he doesn't think the individual elections will depend on whether he stays on as speaker. Ryan's been in Congress since 1999. He was the Republican nominee for vice president in 2012, though he wasn't elected.

Some Democrats joined Republicans in praising Paul Ryan's work as House speaker.