Republican Paul Ryan elected US Speaker of the House

Paul Ryan says it’s a “new day in the House of Representatives”.

Paul Ryan worked hard to climb the greasy pole of power in Washington, a humble Congressional aide moonlighting as a waiter who today became the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Republicans put up a majority of at least 218 House votes to elect Ryan, putting him in charge of legislation that moves through the 435-member chamber and next in line to the U.S. presidency after the vice president.

Ryan, a Republican who was Mitt Romney’s running mate in the 2012 presidential election, has won enough votes to become 54th person to be speaker of the House.

Huelskamp, a conservative Freedom Caucus member from Kansas’ vast 1st District out west, announced Thursday morning that he had switched his allegiance from Daniel Webster, the conservative favorite for speaker, to Ryan.

The last-minute budget accord between Boehner and the White House left Ryan forced to choose between conservatives who oppose the deal and a bipartisan array of lawmakers who are expected to approve it. Most, including members of the rebellious House Freedom Caucus, backed Ryan, though it was clear that future tensions between them and the chamber’s new leader could not be dismissed.

“John Boehner said he was going to “clean out the barn”, Ms. Pelosi said in an interview on Wednesday.

Rep. Ryan received 200 of the 243 votes in a secret party ballot on Wednesday to secure the nomination. “I know he’ll serve with grace and energy”. Our party has lost its vision and we’re going to replace it with a vision. The road to Ryan’s run for Speaker was unusual in that he was largely not seeking the gavel.

Congress will still need to pass the omnibus funding bill in December, and conservatives could still push controversial so-called “riders” to the bill, such as defunding Planned Parenthood.

Many Democrats like Ryan but none is hesitating to attack him as a symbol of Republican policies they consider harsh.

The agreement, passed after an hour-long debate and a last-minute scramble for votes, would increase federal spending by about $80 billion over the next two years, with the new money evenly divided between military and non-military programs.

To accomplish change, Ryan should end the so-called Hastert Rule.

“This is Boehner’s baby”, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., a Freedom Caucus member, said of the compromise.

“Hope always springs eternal – if you do the right things for the right reasons – good things will happen”, he said, wiping away tears. Ryan later said it was time for “turning the page” on GOP infighting that followed Boehner’s decision to leave, though he revealed no specifics about his plans.

“The outgoing speaker of the House has partnered with Democrats and Senate leadership to craft a monstrosity of a budget deal”, one hardliner, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, complained, calling on candidates for speaker to reject the bill.