House Republicans unanimously renominate Paul Ryan to serve as speaker

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan was unanimously renominated to serve as House speaker by his Republican colleagues Tuesday.

In order to remain speaker of the House, Ryan must receive the votes of 218 of his colleagues when the new Congress convenes in January.

Ryan called his colleagues' support a “tremendous honor” on Twitter.

The vote came hours after Ryan told reporters that that the nation is about to see “a new unified Republican government.”

“It feels really good to say that, actually,” Ryan said. “This will be a government focused on turning President-elect [Donald] Trump’s victory into real progress for the American people. Our team is very excited, and we cannot wait to get to work.”

During the campaign, Ryan initially hesitated to offer his support to Trump, and Trump frequently took aim at Ryan on the campaign trail and on Twitter. The speaker ultimately endorsed his party's nominee. Some had speculated that a lingering rift over Trump within the party might cause some GOP lawmakers to push back against Ryan’s nomination.

“In the days and weeks ahead, we will be working very closely with the president-elect and his transition team to lay out our ambitious path for 2017,” Ryan said. “That team, of course, is led by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, and it includes several of our own members. So we are working hand-in-glove from the start.”

“We want to make sure that we hit the ground running in January, so that we can deliver on the new president’s agenda. A better way, and better days, lie ahead for our country,” he added.