Ryan is refusing to let the attacks go unanswered and is using his megaphone as the nation's top elected Republican to try to drown out the chorus of conservative critics.

After Congress passed the nearly $2 trillion government funding and tax-cuts package last week, Ryan touted conservative victories in a roundtable with Capitol Hill reporters, on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, and again during a trio of interviews with friendly conservative talk radio hosts Michael Medved, Hugh Hewitt and his old political mentor, Bill Bennett.

"He will continue to talk directly to conservatives throughout the country as he has always done," a Ryan aide said.

Ryan has repeatedly stressed that the bipartisan funding agreement lifted the 40-year federal ban on crude oil exports and renewed hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks for U.S. businesses and families.