Mutiny

Quarter of House Republicans Defied Boehner

On budget vote.

This doesn't bode well for the next few weeks of negotiations. The budget may have passed Congress, but it didn't get as many votes as Speaker John Boehner wanted it to, as 59 House Republicans defected at the last minute. Twenty-seven of the 59 who broke ranks were freshmen. The vote has the effect of a warning shot from Boehner's right flank as the party heads into negotiations on the debt ceiling and the deficit. “I think my leadership needs to probably sit down and have a come-to-Jesus with themselves,” said Representative Allen B. West, a freshman Republican from Florida who criticized the cuts for being too small. "My guess is that he's not going to be sleeping all that well tonight," said Stan Collender, a budget analyst with Qorvis Communications in Washington.” Still, some say the split within the party might actually strengthen Boehner's hand in talks with Democrats by making him drive a harder bargain in order to unify his party.