Congressmen May Have Voted 'Yes' If Needed

If the GOP needed Rep. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., to vote "yes" to pass Speaker of the House John Boehner's bill Friday, they would have, according to this blog post by Fox News Congressional reporter Chad Pergram. 

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Scott represents District 1, which includes parts of Berkeley and Dorchester counties and Charleston County. Gowdy represents District 4, which includes the Greenville/Spartanburg area. Both voted no on Friday's debt ceiling measure.

Immediately after the bill passed, Scott released a statement explaining why he voted against the measure:

"The Budget Control Act simply does not take the sufficient action needed to secure our nation’s financial future and earn my support. It does not cut enough spending in the short-term, and I need to see the bill mandate a Balanced Budget Amendment immediately," Scott wrote in the statement.

Click here to see Scott's comments on CNN.

According to Pergram's blog post, the Republicans could stand to lose 23 of their own votes to the measure. The bill passed with 22 Republicans, including Scott and Gowdy, and all of the Democratic representatives voting no. It also named Tom Latham, R-Iowa, among those recruited to vote "yes," if needed.

Scott's spokeswoman Sharon Axson sent this video with Scott talking to Neil Cavuto of Fox News when Patch requested comment on the representative's vote. 

In the video, Scott said "I don't think so" when asked if he would have given his vote had the party needed it. 

Updated to add the information by Sharon Axson.