The Hill reports that the two top leaders of the Republican Party in the House voted on either side of the fiscal bill. Its expected that this will set up a fight over leadership of the party in the 113th Session, including who will be elected Speaker later this week.
During the vote, the filling House chamber was subdued. All eyes were on the tally board high above the press gallery in the House, where Republican lawmakers saw a significant division appear in red and green lights among their leadership team.
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) wasted little time in casting a yes vote for the bipartisan measure. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) waited until the last minute to vote no.
Even though the Speaker doesn’t traditionally cast a vote, Boehner walked onto the floor less than one minute after the vote opened, leaned over a colleague to place his card in an electronic machine and voted “aye.”
Boehner would be joined by 84 other GOP lawmakers in voting for the bill. Many Republicans did not support the legislation, but opted to vote for the bill as a means to stave off the potential calamity of the fiscal cliff's across-the-board tax hikes.
McCarthy and Roskam, who were present on the floor throughout the 15-minute vote, refrained from casting “no” votes until the measure had hit the 218 marker, signaling passage.
They waited until Cantor appeared on the floor, with zero minutes remaining on the vote clock, to cast his own “no” vote — putting him at odds with the Speaker.
So the 3rd and 4th in rank joined #2 in opposition to #1.
If I'm Boehner, I'm watching my back.
