House Speaker Ryan: 'Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government'

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday the Republican dominated government will have to go "bold" and "big" to get the country where it wants to go.

"Welcome to the dawn of a new unified Republican government," Ryan said at a news conference. "This will be a government focused on turning President-elect [Donald] Trump's victory into real progress for the American people."

"At the same time 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."

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., awaits the next newly-elected member for their mock swearing-in ceremony photo-op in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, Nov. 14, 2016.

Bill Clark | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images

The House speaker said he and several GOP members will be working with Trump's transition team, led by Vice-President-elect Mike Pence, on goals for 2017.

On Monday, the House Republican conference discussed leadership elections to be held Tuesday afternoon. Ryan, who became House speaker in 2015, is expected to serve a second term.

Earlier this month, Ryan said that he voted for Trump in the presidential election. Ryan endorsed Trump over the summer, but distanced himself after the then GOP nominee's 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape surfaced.

—NBC News contributed to this report.