House Speaker Paul Ryan “offered the fullest accounting of his own thinking on the direction of the nation since the election, even gently breaking from President-elect Donald Trump on controversial policies from Russia sanctions to Medicare reform,” Politico reports.

“Ryan also spelled out his own views on topics including immigration and health care. He suggested criminally convicted undocumented immigrants should be deported, but also assured one undocumented mother that she need not fret about being rounded up by a federal agents and taken away from her U.S.-born daughter.”

The Hill reports the final vote totals were 239 votes for Paul Ryan, 189 votes for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), two votes for Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) and one vote each for Reps. Jim Cooper (D-TN), John Lewis (D-GA) and Daniel Webster (R-FK).

Washington Post: “The near-unanimous vote for Ryan stands as a strong show of Republican unity as the party embarks on an ambitious legislative agenda that, for the first time in eight years, has a real chance to be signed into law.”

“But the 24 hours preceding the vote showed that unity can be fleeting: His reelection came less than two hours after Republicans held an emergency meeting to reverse proposed changes that would roll back the authority of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Ryan opposed those changes ahead of a Monday night conference meeting, but lawmakers voted for them anyway — then agreed to reverse course Tuesday after a public firestorm.”

“The political team that powered House Speaker Paul Ryan’s fundraising machine this year is turning its sights in 2017 to defending the GOP legislative agenda,” Wall Street Journal reports.

“Defending the expected GOP effort to repeal and replace the 2010 health-care law, for example, is going to be far tougher than Mr. Ryan’s go-to move this year: flourishing a pamphlet outlining the House GOP policy agenda, known as ‘A Better Way.'”

Paul Ryan “is poised to win the nomination of his House Republican colleagues Tuesday to continue as speaker and serve as the chief legislative partner to President-elect Donald Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“But several GOP members made clear Monday that although Trump’s victory may have eased the internal party tensions that threatened Ryan’s speakership before the election, it has not eliminated them entirely.”

Speaker Paul Ryan told Fox News that “entitlement reform” was part of his plan to abolish Obamacare and that includes major changes to Medicare.

Said Ryan: “If you’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare, you have to address those issues as well. … Medicare has got some serious issues because of Obamacare. So those things are part of our plan to replace Obamacare… Because of Obamacare, Medicare is going broke.”

Jonathan Chait: “This is false. In fact, it’s the complete opposite of the truth. The Medicare trust fund has been extended 11 years as a result of the passage of Obamacare, whose cost reforms have helped bring health care inflation to historic lows. It is also untrue that repealing Obamacare requires changing traditional Medicare. But Ryan clearly believes he needs to make this claim in order to sell his plan, or probably even to convince fellow Republicans to support it.”

“Speaker Paul Ryan’s suddenly shaky future as House speaker is already prompting closed-door talk among House Republicans about who’d take over if he steps aside or is spurned by archconservatives,” Politico reports.

“Between his falling out with Donald Trump and his ongoing standoff with the House Freedom Caucus, some Republicans are speculating that Ryan might just step aside if he can’t muster the votes. The question preoccupying everyone: Who would replace him if that happens?”

Wall Street Journal: Paul Ryan faces precarious path to remain Speaker

Breitbart News, a right-wing website closely tied to Donald Trump’s campaign, is escalating its war against Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to new levels with a lead story headlined: “He’s with her: Inside Paul Ryan’s months-long campaign to elect Hillary Clinton president.”

For members: Paul Ryan Has a Really Big Trump Problem