Tea Party skeptics to support Boehner for Speaker, leadership aides say

House Republicans are expected to support Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) unanimously for Speaker when the House convenes at noon Wednesday, according to GOP leadership aides.

Despite concerns about Boehner from some Tea Party activist lawmakers, including Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Steve King (R-Iowa), leadership aides anticipate no dissension in the GOP ranks.

{mosads}House Democrats unanimously supported Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the roll call vote when Democrats were in the majority in 2006 and 2008.

In the past, members of the minority party have supported other lawmakers for minority leader. For example, former Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) cast his vote for the late Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Penn.) when Democrats were in the minority.

Bachmann had earlier refused to commit to supporting Boehner for Speaker, and King said last fall he wanted a “blood oath” from the Ohio Republican that he would include healthcare repeal in every appropriations bill, even at the risk of shutting down the federal government.

Neither Bachmann nor King were immediately available for comment.

House Republicans voted unanimously for Boehner as their choice for Speaker in a closed-door conference meeting in November.

Boehner and his leadership team have already taken steps to show their priorities are the same as the Tea Party movement, which wants to see cuts to government spending and repeal of the healthcare law. 

Republicans will move quickly in the new Congress on a vote they hope will set a budget-cutting tone: On Thursday, the House will take up a proposal crafted by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) to cut lawmakers’ office budgets by 5 percent.

The measure will save an estimated $35.2 million in the next fiscal year — hardly a drop in the bucket given the size of Washington’s deficits but a symbolic slash nonetheless.

“To reverse Washington’s job-killing spending binge, sacrifices will be required throughout the federal government, and we are starting with ourselves,” Boehner said in a statement Tuesday. “After taking this step, we will turn our attention to the rest of the federal budget, and the policies that are making it harder for small businesses to get people working again, including the job-killing healthcare law.”

In other early action, the new GOP-led House will vote next week on a repeal of the Democrats’ signature domestic achievement, healthcare reform, which they call a “jobkiller.”

With 242 members, House Republicans should be able to pass the bill easily. While the Senate is unlikely to do the same — and President Obama would veto the legislation even if the upper chamber did — the House vote will stand as a clear symbol of the altered balance of power.

Russell Berman and Michael O’Brien contributed.

This post was updated at 12:39 p.m.