Ryan’s victory places a conservative concepts man at the helm of the House throughout an important interval, following years of divisive Republican infighting and partisan gridlock that has earned Congress only a 9 % approval score from the U.S. public. “What I have always wanted to see in a speaker is someone who can work across the aisle and who can bring about a few level of constructive harmony within and between the parties”.
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Ryan, a former chairman of the House Budget and Ways and Means Committees, said committees “should retake the lead” in drafting legislation, and encouraged all members to contribute.
“I believe that Paul Ryan is an experienced and hard-working member of Congress who has proven that he is willing to listen to every member of his party and the American people”, Garrett said.
Now that the House officially taps him as speaker, Ryan is expected to praise Boehner and urge members from both sides to “put past behind them and begin the process of healing”, according to a Ryan aide. “He did not seek this office”, she said, “the office sought him”. When asked if he’d be open to the job back in 2014, Ryan said he wasn’t interested.
Ryan spoke of helping the country’s working people, but his 13-minute speech was devoid of specifics. After leading the House since 2011, the 25-year House veteran stunningly announced his resignation last month, hounded by hard-line conservatives who are mostly rallying behind Ryan – at least for now.
Ryan, 45, who was nominated by Republicans a day earlier, received 236 votes on the floor.
Ryan was the running mate of the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. “If anything, I leave the way I started, just a regular guy, humbled by the chance to do a big job”.
A tearful Boehner exited the chamber to tears and applause as Ryan stepped to the podium.
The role of speaker serves as the presiding officer of the US House of Representatives and as leader of the majority political party in the House.
Under his leadership, Boehner said the House has passed major entitlement reforms that will save trillions of dollars, protected Americans from tax increases and banned earmarks entirely. “Paul is being called to serve with grace and with energy, and I wish him and his family all the best”.
Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi, herself a one-time House speaker, then handed Ryan the gavel. “He has got to get his far right colleagues to do the right thing”, Brown said about Ryan.
“In politics, it is easy to spot the differences between those who are genuine and those who are in elected office for all the wrong reasons”, said Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.
“The Ryan speakership, I think, will be very historic”.
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“We are not solving problems”.
