Republicans choose Paul Ryan for US House speaker
US Republicans have nominated Representative Paul Ryan to be the next speaker of the House of Representatives.
Republican lawmakers said on Wednesday that 45-year-old Ryan won a closed-door election to become the party's candidate to replace Speaker John Boehner, who announced last month that he will resign by the end of October.
Ryan trounced GOP Representative Daniel Webster, a former Speaker in the Florida statehouse, in a 200-43 vote.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) each received one vote.
"Now it is official, Paul Ryan wins GOP speaker nomination. On to the floor," Representative Bill Huizenga posted on his Twitter page.
A full vote on the floor of the Republican-dominated House is scheduled for Thursday, a day before Boehner will step down as the House speaker.
Ryan needs 218 votes to clinch an outright victory on the floor of the 435-member House.
Boehner’s decision to step down as speaker came after he faced intense pressure over several controversial issues, such as the issue of federal funding for women's healthcare provider Planned Parenthood.
Conservatives have demanded that Boehner take action to defund Planned Parenthood as part of a measure to keep the government open. Others have slammed that strategy, saying it could lead to a government shutdown that would damage the Republican Party in the 2016 elections.
Planned Parenthood is an organization that provides reproductive health as well as maternal and child health services. The organization has been under fire over allegations that it has improperly used fetal tissue from abortions.
Conservatives demand Congress must punish Planned Parenthood over the abortion controversy by denying it federal funding.
Boehner struggled from almost the moment he took charge of his office in 2011 to hold together his fractious and conservative Republican lawmakers.
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