--- title: Why One Republican Voted Against Boehner for Speaker description: Rep. Scott Rigell first learned of a challenge to John Boehner Tuesday morning. A few hours later, he voted against him. canonical: https://time.com/3656667/scott-rigell-john-boehner-speaker/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-06T23:13:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:20:46.352Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why One Republican Decided to Vote Against Boehner in Just a Few Hours og:description: At 11:52 a.m. Tuesday, Virginia Republican Rep. Scott Rigell was watching C-SPAN in the Capitol. og:url: https://time.com/3656667/scott-rigell-john-boehner-speaker/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta04987259ccfbf91/69876e5ce20a879d28a83f60/john-boehner-shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2098 og:image:height: 1180 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-BOEHNER og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why One Republican Decided to Vote Against Boehner in Just a Few Hours twitter:description: At 11:52 a.m. Tuesday, Virginia Republican Rep. Scott Rigell was watching C-SPAN in the Capitol. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta04987259ccfbf91/69876e5ce20a879d28a83f60/john-boehner-shutdown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why One Republican Decided to Vote Against Boehner Over Just a Few Hours > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jan 6, 2015 11:13 PM UTC  Speaker of the House John Boehner attends a press conference on Capitol Hill on December 11, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Speaker of the House John Boehner attends a press conference on Capitol Hill on December 11, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jan 6, 2015 11:13 PM UTC At 11:52 a.m. Tuesday, Virginia Republican Rep. Scott Rigell was watching C-SPAN in the Capitol. He was still thinking of supporting Speaker John Boehner’s re-election, when he saw a backbencher’s name splash across the screen as a potential challenger. Rigell then sought out the upstart—Florida Republican Rep. Daniel Webster—on the House floor and confirmed that he would serve if he won. Even though Rigell knew the likelihood of that happening was low, he ended up voting for Webster a few hours later. “To go to from voting for the Speaker to voting for Mr. Webster there’s an intense amount of thought in a relatively short amount of time,” he said. In the biggest defection in at least 100 years, according to the [Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/06/here-are-the-republicans-who-voted-against-john-boehner-for-speaker/), 25 Republicans voted against Boehner, who nonetheless went on to win a third term as Speaker. Most of the opposition came from the right of Rigell, with representatives like Louie Gohmert and Ted Yoho, two other members who officially ran against Boehner and might as well carry pitchforks when they stride into the Capitol. But while the anti-Boehner crowd is loud and can [sometimes](http://time.com/3073948/border-bill-republicians/) move bills to the right, it lacks a leader. Yoho told [TIME](http://time.com/3654113/john-boehner-speaker-protest/) he jumped in only after an unnamed conservative who could corral their corps wouldn’t. And Webster, who got 12 votes, didn’t whip anyone to vote for him, according to Rigell, and Gohmert and Yoho received only five votes total. For his part, Rigell’s vote was “simply \[a\] connection between the calendar and the appropriations bills.” He wants a Speaker which would cancel extended breaks like the summer recess “unless and until” all 12 appropriations bills have been voted upon. He holds Boehner in “high regard” for lowering discretionary spending, but talks of changing the institution itself. Of course, Boehner isn’t the only to blame; while the appropriations process has been largely negotiated behind close doors by the top congressional leaders, it has rarely passed all 12 of the aforementioned bills in decades. Still, Boehner’s allies noted that the vast majority of House Republicans—216—voted for Boehner. “Under his leadership in this new Congress we will pass strong, conservative legislation which will make its way to the president’s desk,” said Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the GOP Whip, in a statement. “Speaker Boehner’s commitment to bold, conservative solutions that reflect the priorities of the American people will move America forward and help get our country back on the right track.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3656667/scott-rigell-john-boehner-speaker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3656667/scott-rigell-john-boehner-speaker/"},"headline":"Why One Republican Decided to Vote Against Boehner Over Just a Few Hours","datePublished":"2015-01-06T23:13:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:20:46.352Z","description":"Rep. Scott Rigell first learned of a challenge to John Boehner Tuesday morning. 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