Michele Bachmann delivers Speakership to Boehner

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr

UPDATE: The full results of the vote are posted below.

By Adam Bitely — Michele Bachmann, who has been scorned by House leadership, surprised the House chamber this afternoon when she cast the 218th vote for John Boehner, handing him the Speakership. One Tea Party activist responded in shock at Bachmann’s decisive vote saying, “Et tu Michele?”

Bachmann, the leader of the Tea Party Caucus in the House, was widely assumed to oppose Boehner in his quest to retain the gavel after having been ridiculed for her strong stands in favor of limited government and balanced budgets. While many in Washington denied the existence of active opposition to a second term of Boehner’s speakership, Boehner won with a narrow margin. He received 220 votes.

Under House rules, if no candidate had received a majority in the House of Representatives, a second vote would have been mandated throwing the floor open to potential conservative alternatives to the Boehner Speakership.

In the last hours before the vote, Boehner made concessions to RSC Chairman Steve Scalise changing some House rules to create more openness. Boehner also promised conservatives that he would no longer engage in one-on-one negotiations with Obama. Further, he promised votes on Hurricane Sandy relief boondoggles to keep New York and New Jersey Republican members in line.

The narrow vote is widely believed to signal a preliminary warning shot to the Speaker’s ability to move away from promised spending cuts. To see how each member of the House voted in the election, click here.

Adam Bitely is the Editor-in-Chief of NetRightDaily.com.