House Republicans unanimously re-elect Paul Ryan as speaker
House Republicans unanimously re-elected Speaker Paul Ryan Tuesday during an internal leadership election ahead of the official election held on the floor in January.
His re-election comes nearly a week after Donald Trump declared victory in the presidential election and after some speculation that Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and 2012 vice presidential nominee, wouldn’t want to hold the gavel any longer after the election, especially if he has future White House ambitions.
During the campaign, there were tense moments between Trump and Ryan. In early October, for example, Ryan announced that he would no longer campaign for or defend his party’s nominee after the 2005 Access Hollywood tape surfaced showing Trump making lewd comments about women.
But after Trump’s shocking win last week, Ryan celebrated and said the president-elect would lead a “unified Republican government” in which it has full control of Congress.
Democrats, on the other hand, are struggling to keep their party together and stay unified after their election losses. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, announced Tuesday behind closed doors that leadership elections for her caucus would be postponed until after Thanksgiving on Nov. 30. Their elections were originally scheduled for Thursday.
Ryan has served as speaker since October 2015 after House Republicans debated who should lead their conference after John Boehner’s resignation from the speaker’s chair and Congress.