[ot-caption title=”The official Congressional portrait of the new Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan.  (Paul Ryan by Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Images)”]

Paul Ryan, a Republican Congressman from Wisconsin, was just elected as Speaker of the House following John Boehner’s resignation. Former Speaker John Boehner resigned due to the fighting within his own party, which is what Ryan is most concerned with as he takes on the important position.  He voiced his opinion about the institution he is now in charge of by saying that it is broken and in need of restructuring.

Ryan was always thought of as a unifying symbol for the Republican Party, and this was the case during the voting in the House of Representatives, when Ryan was awarded 236 votes from his colleagues. When granted office, Ryan immediately spoke to the House in an effort to unify the entire Congress. He said, “Let’s pray for each other: Republicans for Democrats, and Democrats for Republicans…And I don’t mean pray for a conversion. Pray for a deeper understanding.”

Despite his optimistic start, Ryan enters his position with many challenges that he will have to face in the near future. Boehner left Ryan with an economic agreement diced out with President Obama that would increase government spending by $80 billion through 2017 and that raised the federal debt limit, which is infuriating to conservatives. A transportation bill is also a necessity in the near future. At this point in time, there is an internal GOP debate over renewing lending authority for the Export-Import Bank. Ryan is very open about doing away with the bank, yet most Republicans in the House, along with the entire Democratic Party, previously voted to continue it. With both parties in extreme disagreement over basic ideologies, Ryan is working to unify the two parties.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Ryan would be able to meet these challenges. He stated, “The future looks brighter. Yeah, there’s work involved in that, but the hurdles are not as high as they were a week ago. The whole conference is more united,” he stated. “And when we’re united, we can accomplish big things.”

Sources: CNN, Washington Post, New Yorker, Photo Source: Gage Skidmore