Bachmann cancels campaign events to return for balanced-budget amendment vote

Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday that she will cancel campaign events planned for Friday in Iowa to return to Washington and vote for the proposed balanced-budget amendment. This is the second time the Minnesota lawmaker has canceled campaign events to return for a vote — in August, Bachmann cut another campaign trip to Iowa short to vote against the debt-ceiling deal brokered between President Obama and congressional Republicans.

"With her vote, Bachmann will be delivering on her promise to stand for fiscal responsibility, cutting spending and reducing the national debt," Bachmann's campaign said in a statement.

Bachmann's vote will be her first in more than a month — she last voted on Oct. 12, in favor of a trio of free-trade agreements and a program to help veterans find jobs. A study by Roll Call found that Bachmann had only voted 54 percent of the time between joining the race on June 13 and Oct. 2, including missing every vote in the month of September.

Such behavior is not unusual for presidential candidates — Obama missed a substantial number of Senate votes during his run in 2008. 

The campaign said it will reschedule any canceled events, and return to Iowa to campaign Saturday.

The balanced-budget vote is a largely ceremonial one, as the amendment seems unlikely to pass by the three-fifths majority required in both chambers of Congress. If approved, the legislation would require ratification by three-quarters of state legislatures.

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