Erin Kelly

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Paul Ryan was unanimously chosen for another term as House speaker by his Republican colleagues on Tuesday as he called for his party to unite behind President-elect Donald Trump.

The 46-year-old Wisconsin Republican, who was often at odds with Trump during the long presidential campaign, has pledged to work closely with the president-elect to advance Trump's agenda.

"Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government," Ryan declared at a news conference a few hours before the closed-door leadership elections. "It feels really good to say that, actually. This will be a government focused on turning President-elect Trump’s victory into real progress for the American people. Our team is very excited, and we cannot wait to get to work."

Ryan faces an election by the full House in January, when the new Congress convenes and will vote for Speaker. He must win a majority of House members — 218 votes — to keep his job, and Republicans will control at least 239 seats.

Things were not going as smoothly Tuesday for House Democrats, who were devastated by Trump's election and failed to wrest control of either chamber of Congress from Republicans. Democrats postponed their leadership elections, moving them from Thursday until the week after Thanksgiving. A group of Democrats had circulated a letter among their colleagues saying a delay was needed to give members more time to analyze the election results.

Democrats are currently led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., but at least one Democrat confirmed Tuesday that he may challenge Pelosi.

Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, is considering a run to oust Pelosi and was among those pushing for the leadership election to be postponed.

"He’s pleased with the...delay," said Ryan’s spokesman, Michael Zetts. "This is a positive step in the right direction to try to understand what happened and where (the Democratic Party is) going to go from here."

Zetts said Ryan does not have a specific timetable for deciding whether he will run for minority leader.

"He’s still considering it, but no decisions have been made," he said.

Among Republicans, Paul Ryan has faced some of the same challenges as former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in trying to hold together an often fractious GOP caucus. Ryan was first elected speaker in October 2015 after Boehner retired amid growing criticism from the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives.

While Ryan has also faced criticism from some of the same people, he has not encountered the kind of open rebellion that broke out against Boehner.

Ryan said Tuesday he knows that challenges remain.

"We recognize that the task ahead of us is enormous," he said. "If we are going to put our country back on the right track, we have got to be bold, and we have to go big. This country is expecting absolutely no less."

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers were unanimously re-elected to their leadership jobs.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is expected to be re-elected Wednesday to the top leadership job by the Senate Republican Conference.

Contributing: Deirdre Shesgreen