National Review‘s Robert Costa has some
from-the-House-floor gossip about the ultimately feckless, and
apparenlty not diligently planned or executed, mini-revolt against
re-electing John Boehner as Speaker of the House yesterday. I
blogged yesterday
about how Justin Amash and some other Ron Paul-endorsed,
liberty-minded Congressmen did not vote for Boehner.

Highlights from Costa:

Members say the rebellion was mostly a project of the
libertarians (Justin Amash of Michigan and Walter Jones of North
Carolina) and a clique within the Jordan-affiliated RSC, especially
members of the class of 2010 (Mulvaney and Labrador) and their
allies. It was never something that involved widespread outreach.
“I only heard about it from a reporter,” says Phil Gingrey of
Georgia, a longtime figure in conservative circles. “That was a
real mistake,” acknowledges a House Republican staffer involved
with the coup attempt. “My boss didn’t say much to anybody
beforehand. They were thinking that maybe they could help Eric
Cantor or someone else find a way to win.” 

….The height of the tension came when the number of defections
was at nine, and the number of abstentions or no-shows was at
eight, meaning the magic number of 17 anti-Boehner votes [which
would have lead to a second-round] was a possibility…

The plot against Boehner was promptly dashed when the
conservatives who had missed the first roll emerged from the
cloakroom. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a former presidential
candidate, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, two members often
seen on cable TV, slowly strolled down the aisle and waited for the
vote to be called again — and they both voted for Boehner. That
possibility of 17 suddenly disappeared…

Costa says that the rebels never consulted with Eric Cantor of
Virginia, a likely possibility for winning if Boehner, embarrassed
by the no-confidence, stepped down. And, surprise!, establishment
folk like the whip and Paul Ryan, Costa reports, were annoyed there
was any show  of defiance to Boehner at all.

Jones and Amash agreed that they didn’t really care about
winning the gavel, but they wanted to bloody Boehner’s nose, and
stick up for the libertarian wing of the House Republican caucus.
Their votes weren’t even coordinated — Amash voted for Labrador,
and Jones voted for David Walker, a former comptroller general.

Washington Post
collates all the anti-Boehner rebels‘ votes.

I have an interview with three of the rebels, Amash, Ted Yoho
(Fla.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.) in the forthcoming March issue of
Reason.