Scalise is going to be the next Speaker of the House. Unless it’s going to be Nancy Pelosi, that is, but such an eventuality would entail the American people losing their minds and voting Democrats in to represent red districts.

We know this because we already know the talk inside the U.S. House of Representatives is that Scalise is the likely heir-apparent to House Speaker Paul Ryan, and now we know Ryan is leaving the body after this year. Today Ryan is announcing he won’t seek re-election…

Speaker Paul Ryan will announce on Wednesday that he plans to retire at the end of his term, sources told The Hill.

Rumors have been swirling for months that the Wisconsin Republican — who is serving in his second year in the Speaker’s office — was considering retiring.

The move could strike a blow to GOP fundraising efforts as they gear up for a contentious midterm election season.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) have been floated as potential successors if the GOP holds onto the majority.

Gotta love The Hill’s spin that somehow this is a blow to the GOP’s fundraising, as though Scalise, who survived an assassination attempt last year and might be the most popular man in Congress, isn’t sellable to donors as the Speaker-in-waiting with Pelosi as the alternative. Let’s chalk that up as “objective” reporting.

In any event, Ryan’s announcement is a surprise to no one. It’s been an open secret in the House for months that he was on his way out. Lots of rumors are swirling that he might be a primary opponent to Donald Trump in 2020, having run as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012. We doubt that, but it’s not impossible – for a while in 2016 Ryan got in bed with the NeverTrump camp, and then patched things up with the president after he was cemented as the Republican nominee at the convention.

But soon it’ll be Scalise at the reins. And that’s very exciting news for Louisiana.