London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 09, 2025

GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger says House Republicans will have a 'totally nonfunctional majority' in 2023 and McCarthy as speaker will be 'the equivalent of the dog who caught the car'

GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger says House Republicans will have a 'totally nonfunctional majority' in 2023 and McCarthy as speaker will be 'the equivalent of the dog who caught the car'

"This couldn't happen to a nicer guy," he quipped. "I used to be great friends with Kevin McCarthy. He's been the biggest disappointment of my life."

Republicans this week clinched a majority in the US House of Representatives after claiming their 218th seat in the 435-member body, flipping the lower chamber from the Democratic Party more than a week after the midterm election.

But despite their newfound House majority, the GOP will have a razor-thin edge, with the party currently holding a 219-211 advantage with just a handful of races left to call.

And according to GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois — a prominent member of the House January 6 committee who's retiring at the end of the current Congress — the party will have a "totally nonfunctional majority" once the new session convenes in January 2023.

Kinzinger, who spoke on Charlie Sykes' Bulwark podcast about the internal dynamics within the GOP caucus, including the challenges that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California faces in rounding up the requisite 218 votes to earn the speaker's gavel on the floor House floor, said that Democrats would need to be strategic about the situation if they hoped to block a McCarthy speakership.

"When there's a 15, 20 person majority, it takes a lot of people to deny the future Speaker his votes. But when it's just like three, four, five you can find it – which is why I think the Democrats need to be really thinking about, and thinking about working people like AOC and some of those that are never going to vote for a Republican — find a Republican that is agreeable, try to find a couple of Republicans that are in elected office, and then vote for that person for Speaker," he said.

Kinzinger, who was first elected in 2010 and was formerly close to McCarthy, slammed his onetime friend who is navigating a delicate situation of trying to appease far-right, mainstream conservative, and moderate members of his caucus with a thin majority — a tough prospect for any Republican lawmaker in leadership.

"This couldn't happen to a nicer guy," Kinzinger quipped. "I used to be great friends with Kevin McCarthy. He's been the biggest disappointment of my life."

He then went on to criticize Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who replaced Liz Cheney as the chair of the House Republican Conference last year after the Wyoming congresswoman repeatedly spoke out against former President Donald Trump's debunked election claims and his role on January 6, 2021.


House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., arrives to speak with journalists after winning the House Speaker nomination at a House GOP leadership meeting on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2022. Walking behind McCarthy are House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Republican Conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

"Let's look at Elise Stefanik, who I think is probably thinking, 'Ok, if Kevin goes down, I can be the next speaker.' Right away, having the lack of a red wave, she already tweets out her endorsement of Donald Trump. Like, how pathetic can you get, by the way? How obvious can you get?" he said.

"Here's the dynamics in the caucus. Yes, Andy Biggs [of Arizona] is going to run against him, which is meaningless because Kevin will get a majority of the caucus," he continued to say. "Suppose they end up with 220 people. He needs 111. That'll be done. The question then is whether you can get to 218 on the floor, because that's what you'll need."

"That's where you can extract power. Why is Marjorie Taylor Greene super supportive of Kevin? She doesn't like Kevin. He's promised something to her. I guarantee you. Why is Matt Gaetz against Marjorie Taylor Greene? Because probably Kevin McCarthy has yet to promise him anything, and secondarily, he wants to be more famous than Marjorie Taylor Greene," he added.


'Each person now has the power of a senator'


Kinzinger then blasted the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus as the "Freedom Club," and said for many of their members, their ideology has "never been principle-based" but rooted in gaining fame.

The Illinois congressman reiterated that McCarthy — if he becomes speaker — will have his hands full as members in a 220-or-221-member GOP caucus will effectively have veto power over most legislation.

"It's a totally nonfunctional majority because — I've lived this — where [Republicans] want to defund Obamacare. 'Well, we don't defund it enough.' Or if we want to just pass the budget, we have to defund Obamacare because there's 10 Republicans that are willing to vote 'no' on a conservative bill so we don't have enough people to get it done. If you're down to one or two people, each person now has the power of a senator," he said.

"It will be an unfunctional majority, and Kevin will probably be the equivalent of the dog who caught the car," he added.

Kinzinger said that past GOP speakers had remarkable legislative skills, but still struggled to round up votes on several key issues even with larger caucus sizes.

"[John] Boehner was one of the best at cutting deals. He struggled. Paul Ryan knew policy. He was a moderate, good guy. He struggled," the congressman said. "Kevin McCarthy is going to have trouble."

Comments

Oh ya 2 year ago
Reps like being the losers. They do not want to lead because as losers the spend their whole term fundraising

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×