Anti-Boehner coup in House GOP conference called off at last minute

Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex) both refused to oppose Speaker John Boehner's bid for re-election Thursday, and an attempted coup from the Right was called off thirty minutes before the vote.

It had previously been thought that the insurgents had only 14 of the 17 votes needed to force a second ballot. But members of the caucus report that they in fact had 24, but chose not to procede because of a tactical decision to make 25 committments the trigger for the coup. Insurgents wanted a sufficient margin for error to insure against last-minute defections.

The planned coup was prompted by Boehner's support for the deal which kept the nation from going off the "fiscal cliff."

HT: Drudge