The assumption has always been that when Republicans retake Congress, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) will be installed as the speaker.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) says not so fast.
Several members of the GOP House have been hung out to dry, in her eyes, and this could hurt McCarthy’s chances of getting the gavel.
He Didn’t Protect Us
McCarthy is well-liked within the House, so I am not sure who Taylor Greene has in mind for running against him, but she does have a point.
McCarthy’s time as the Minority Leader has not been without problems.
Taylor Greene and Rep. Gosar (R-AZ) have been stripped of their committee assignments with McCarthy in leadership.
Rep. Boebert (R-CO) is now facing censure and possible loss of committee assignment over a story she told supporters during the holiday break that took a shot at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
There is also the consideration that numerous Democrats have made remarks that also should have resulted in censure, but McCarthy was never able to get enough support for that to happen.
However, the biggest knock against McCarthy would be that he was unable to keep the party united in the House to defeat the infrastructure bill.
With a handful of Democrats having voted “no” on the bill, the legislation would have failed had McCarthy been able to keep Republicans united, but 13 of them voted in favor of the bill, giving Biden a big win.
Taylor Greene stated, “He doesn’t have the votes that are there, because there’s many of us that are very unhappy about the failure to hold Republicans accountable, while conservatives like me, Paul Gosar, and many others just constantly take the abuse by the Democrats.
“The American people aren’t going to have it.”
She added, “Number one, everyone saw me get stripped of committees as a brand new member of Congress, robbing my district of the ability to have representation working on committees.
“There was no action taken. As a matter of fact, our leader did nothing to defend me, did nothing to stop it.
“Then we saw today Paul Gosar censured, and then we saw him lose a committee, and this is another failure.”
Again, I am not really sure who would step up to challenge McCarthy, but the right person could give him a run for his money.
Republicans also have to be careful about mounting a challenge against McCarthy and have this issue decided before a new Speaker is elected, as even a small ripple could give Democrats the opening they need.
This is something we have to keep our eyes on as the election cycle gets closer to see if McCarthy can rally everyone behind him and put this small bubble of descent down.
I would guess much of that will ride on what happens to Rep. Boebert once the House comes back into session.
Source: Just the News
