Greene Warns Against 'Never Kevin' Movement

Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bid to become House speaker could be in trouble amid opposition from members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus—but one of the House's most prominent conservatives is standing by him. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told Steve Bannon's War Room podcast on Monday that a reported challenge by caucus member Rep. Andy Biggs is too "risky," Axios reports. While some races are still outstanding, Republicans are likely to regain control of the House, but only by what Greene called a "razor-thin minority" that could potentially be defeated by a single Republican voting with Democrats. "We've already been through two years where we saw Republicans—Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger—cross over and join the Democrats and produce a Jan. 6 committee," Greene said.

Greene warned that moderate Republicans could join Democrats to elect Cheney as House speaker. Some Democrats have raised the possibility of electing Cheney as a "transitional" speaker, Fox reports. The Wyoming Republican lost her primary this year and will not be a member of the next Congress, though Axios notes that the Constitution does not require the speaker to be a House member. "The danger is this, do we want to watch a challenge for Speaker of the House simply because the 'Never Kevin' movement—just like we've seen a 'Never Trump' movement—do we want to see that challenge open the door to Nancy Pelosi handing the gavel to Liz Cheney?" Greene told Bannon.

House Republicans are planning leadership elections Tuesday, but conservatives want to postpone them until control of the House is assured, Politico reports. McCarthy, currently House minority leader, could be nominated for speaker with a simple majority of House Republicans, but to become speaker, he will have to get at least 218 votes in a January vote of the full House. "All I'll say at the moment is McCarthy doesn’t have 218, and there will be an alternative challenger," Biggs spokesman Matthew Tragesser tells the Wall Street Journal. (More Marjorie Taylor Greene stories.)