UPDATE: Despite largest defection in 100 years, Boehner remains Speaker

Rob and I are following it on CSPAN at the moment, and you can too if you like.

Boehner needs 218 votes to be elected Speaker, and it would take 29 Republican votes against him to throw things to a second vote. As of this moment, Boehner has 204 votes and 27 have voted "other." A good question to which neither of us knows the answer: If Boehner falls short of 218 on the first ballot, does he just bow out or does he go into the second ballot fighting for more GOP support? And if he does bow out, how would the caucus go about choosing a new Speaker nominee? Rob and I will update as things happen. UPDATE (Dan): This piece from the Daily Signal explains very nicely who some of the players are behind the effort to unseat Boehner, and what might happen if Boehner isn't elected on the first ballot.

UPDATE (Rob): Well, there you go. Despite enduring the largest defection in a hundred years, John Boehner will remain Speaker of the House with 216 votes. We know you're thrilled. Multiple members failed to attend todays vote, lowering the threshold Boehner needed for victory from the initial 218 to just 205. Multiple members failed to attend todays vote, lowering the threshold Boehner needed for victory from the initial 218 to just 205. 25 Republican votes went against Boehner, and were distributed as follows:

• Webster-12
• Gohmert-3
• Jordan-2
• Yoho-2
• Duncan-1
• Rand Paul-1
• Jeff Sessions-1
• Gowdy-1
• McCarthy-1
• Present-1

This is the biggest revolt on a speaker vote in at least 100 years http://t.co/FqY2yYvr6B pic.twitter.com/Qzk4iwzn8V

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