Ryan officially designated as next speaker of the house

The 247 member Republican conference voted on Wednesday to elect Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as the next speaker of the house. Rep. Ryan garnered 200 votes, while Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) picked up 43. Rep. Ryan will become the youngest speaker since 1869. He is 45 years old.

After repeatedly saying he didn’t want the job, Rep. Ryan finally relented after saying he wanted to unify the House Republicans. After the vote, CNN reported that he said, “We have an obligation here in the people’s house to do the people’s business. We are going to respect the people by representing the people.”

Rep. Ryan’s nomination will go to the full House later this morning where outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner will hand over the gavel.