One Republican member of Congress who won't be sorry to see Speaker of the House Paul Ryan leave office is the libertarian-leaning Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who also served under John Boehner.

Boehner famously had no use for Amash's principled stand on shrinking the size, scope, and spending of government and was known to swear ferociously at the Michigander. Yet Amash told Reason that compared to Ryan, "In many respects, Boehner was the better speaker." That's because Boehner believed in letting Congress actually debate, argue, and vote on amendments to legislation in a relatively open manner. Ryan, in contrast, controlled the process tightly and thus stifled the legislative process.

With Paul Ryan's departure in January 2019, that opportunity just might arrive.

Cameras by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg. Edited by Alexis Garcia.