“He will continue serving as speaker until the House elects a new speaker. That’s the way the rules work,” Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida has told reporters, adding he is happy if Boehner stays.

So we have a waiting game as (1) Paul Ryan makes up his mind, (2) the House Freedom Caucus comes to fully realize their power so far has been to upset the establishment apple cart without having the strength to rearrange it and (3) a liberated Speaker Boehner is free to cut deals with moderate Republicans or Democrats that will further anger many conservatives.

For all of the complaints against Ryan, House Freedom Caucus conservatives will become more embarrassed and gradually look powerless the longer that John Boehner remains speaker. Even though Ryan is unlikely to give them the rules changes — many of them salutary — that they want, he is likely to grant them a fair hearing. That’s something they clearly felt they are not getting from John Boehner, who accuses House Freedom Caucus members of being “false prophets,” promising more than they could deliver.