US House Republicans keep Paul Ryan as Speaker

Washington: Republican members of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously chose Paul Ryan to keep his job as Speaker, following their victory at the polls last week, the House GOP conference announced.

"It is a tremendous honour to be nominated by my colleagues to serve as Speaker of the House. Now it's time to go big," Ryan, a 46-year-old lawmaker from Wisconsin, tweeted after the closed-doors vote at the Capitol.

Given that the Republicans maintain their majority in the House, Ryan's re-election as speaker is essentially a foregone conclusion -- unless another Republican decides to mount a surprise challenge come January.