SOFREP has confirmed with a member of Congressman Ryan Zinke’s staff that initial reports of the congressman considering a run for the speaker of the house position are true.

Rep. Zinke told SOFREP, “America needs leadership who will unite people, build a team, and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. I think there are a few people who can do that. If folks like Paul Ryan and others step aside, and more of my colleagues ask me to run, I will hear the call to serve. Leadership is about service to country, not self. It’s time to advance the cause of freedom.”

I served under Zinke during my last tour in the Navy at the Naval Special Warfare Command as a chief petty officer in charge of the SEAL sniper program, and can tell you he’s no stranger to good leadership . I would love to see him go against the grain and shake things up as the new speaker, he’s a freshman but knows how to lead, and we need more leaders like Ryan in politics. Americans have grown tired of career politicians who are “Big Hat, no Cattle“.

We’re at an incredibly important pivot point in American history; we have been a country at war for 14 years, the longest war this country has ever seen. Washington needs experienced leaders who aren’t afraid to make tough decisions, and who won’t base those decisions on what’s good for their next re-election campaign, but on what’s good for America as a whole. Immigration, mass shootings, the Second Amendment, domestic security, and American foreign policy strategy (one that promotes stability at home and abroad) are incredibly important issues that need real solutions, not the bullshit political rhetoric we’ve all become accustomed to.

“Leadership is about service to country, not self.”

Zinke is a proven leader, and in Washington politics it’s time to lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.

Go get’em Z.