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Reindeer Farmer Saves Boehner in Dramatic Procedural Vote



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House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and the House leadership team pulled out all the stops in order to eke out a win on a procedural vote that could have blown up the spending package if it had failed.

Not only did Boehner himself vote — something that rarely happens — but the leaders allowed members to keep voting for several minutes after the voting time had expired officially because they were losing.

“Call the vote,” frustrated Democrats shouted on the House floor, to no avail.

With the vote tied at 213, a Tea Party-backed congressman who lost his seat after being targeted by establishment Republicans saved the day for Boehner. Outgoing Representative Kerry Bentivolio (R., Mich.) — a reindeer farmer who won his party’s nomination two years ago after Representative Thad McCotter (R., Mich.) was kicked off the ballot — switched his vote from no to yes. The House called the vote and the rule passed 214-212, setting up a final vote on the $1.1 trillion spending package later this afternoon.

It takes 218 votes to pass a House bill, though, so the whips may have their work cut out for them. Democrats rallied against the bill after learning that the CRomnibus contained campaign finance and Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform changes that they oppose.

Representative Steve King (R., Iowa) said that Republican leadership made themselves dependent on Democrats by freezing out conservative rank-and-file members.

“One of the things that has hurt this from the Republican perspective is, from the beginning, to have Republicans whipping Democrats on the bill — not talking to conservatives about what it might take to get their vote,” King told National Review Online. “Those conversations didn’t take place the way they needed to but they were taking place with Democrats.”

Sixteen Republicans voted against the rule: Michigan Representative Justin Amash; Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann; Virginia Representative Dave Brat; Alabama Representative Mo Brooks; George Representative Paul Broun; Texas Representative Louie Gohmert; Arizona Representative Paul Gosar; Kansas Representative Tim Huelskamp; North Carolina Representative Walter Jones; Ohio Representative Jim Jordan; Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie; Arizona Representative Matt Salmon; and Texas Representative Steve Stockman.

President Obama’s spokesman announced, after the rule passed, that Obama would sign the CRomnibus if the bill passed through the House and Senate.

 

Tags: Budget Battle


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