Paul Ryan raises House speaker's gavel?

WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday formally elected Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as its new speaker, ending weeks of speculation about who would assume the nation’s third-most-powerful position.

Ryan won 236 votes from his GOP colleagues—36 more than during Wednesday’s Republican conference vote. He assumes control of a deeply divided House but pledged to bring unity between the parties.

“We are all in this together,” Ryan said. “We are wiping the slate clean.”

Ryan, the 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, delivered his remarks in front of Mitt and Ann Romney and a host of family members, including his wife and three young children. At age 45, Ryan becomes one of the youngest speakers in history and the first from Wisconsin.

Thursday’s vote ended a five-week drama over who would replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who announced plans to retire at the end of October. After conservatives scuttled his replacement choice, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Republicans drafted Ryan as a unifier. But 43 conservatives still voted for his lone challenger, Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., when the party nominated Ryan on Wednesday.

A day later, Ryan seemed much more upbeat as he cruised around the House floor, flashing easy smiles and glad-handing an endless stream of colleagues, including some who voted against him in conference.

Webster also worked the floor prior to the vote, approaching several Republican lawmakers for what looked like intentional conversations. Webster succeeded in convincing his supporters not to formally nominate him—after which he slipped out a back door—but not all of them respected his wishes for unanimous support for Ryan.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., the man who defeated then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014, was the first to vote for Webster, sparking murmurs in the room. Eight more followed suit: Reps. Curt Clawson (R-Fla.); Louie Gohmert (R-Texas); Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.); Walter Jones (R-N.C.); Thomas Massie (R-Ky.); Bill Posey (R-Fla.); Randy Weber (R-Texas); and Ted Yoho (R-Fla.).

Led by the House Freedom Caucus, conservatives pushed hard for process changes that would decentralize power—the central theme in Webster’s campaign. Some said they wouldn’t vote for any speaker candidate who hadn’t agreed to changes in writing or implemented them ahead of time, but in the end most Freedom Caucus members backed Ryan.

The new speaker repeated the oath of office after Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the dean of the House, as he rested his left hand on a blue, New American Standard study Bible. His wife Janna beamed in the gallery.

Ryan, a two-time committee chair, said he immediately felt the weight of his office, which is second in line to the presidency. He pledged to return the House to regular order and ensure bills originate in committees, not through leadership deal-making.

“The committees should take the lead in drafting all major legislation,” Ryan said to a standing ovation from Republicans and Democrats. “Only a fully functioning House can ever truly represent the people.”

Before the vote, Boehner gave his farewell address, pulling out a box of tissue to the delight of his audience. He reminisced over 25 years in Congress and thanked those who worked with him and for him.

“I leave with no regrets,” Boehner said. “I leave the way I started—just a regular guy humbled by a chance to do a big job.”

After Boehner relinquished the speaker’s gavel, he received a long, standing ovation from both sides of the aisle. Several Democrats walked to the Republican side to embrace him as he exited.