US: Paul Ryan elected new Speaker of the House

WASHINGTON

Republican Paul Ryan has been elected to succeed outgoing U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner following a vote on Thursday that saw 236 GOP members back the Wisconsin congressman.

The vote was largely a formality following Wednesday’s nomination of Ryan by GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, ending weeks of political infighting within Republican ranks over who would succeed Boehner.

Only nine hardline conservatives voted against Ryan, instead throwing their support behind Republican Daniel Webster.

After receiving the Speaker’s gavel from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Ryan, 45, emphasized the tasks ahead of him and the House at large, which has not only the usual divisions between the parties, but is also home to a fractured Republican caucus.

“The House is broken. We’re not solving problems, we’re adding to them,” Ryan said in the House chamber after formally becoming the 54th Speaker, adding: “I am not interested in laying blame. We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slates clean.”

Boehner announced his retirement from the speakership and Congress last month after divisions within the party prompted him to resign.

Ryan won his seat in the House in 1998, and ran as presidential hopeful, Mitt Romney’s, running mate against President Barack Obama in 2012.

Following the unsuccessful bid, Ryan returned to the House where he has been Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee since January 2015. He previously described the post as his “dream job”, and only accepted the speakership on condition that he have time to spend with his family.

Boehner gave an emotional, and at times self-effacing, speech on the House floor before the vote that saw Ryan take the House’s top spot. In it, the long-standing congressman delivered an emotional farewell to the chamber that he has led since 2011.

"I leave with no regrets, no burdens,” Boehner said. “I’m just a regular guy humbled by the chance to do a big job.”