Gingrich Predicts Slew of Challenges Ahead for McCarthy’s If He Becomes Speaker

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich warns that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) could face a slew of challenges heading into the new Congress if he becomes speaker.

Tensions within the House GOP are rising as uncertainty surrounds McCarthy’s ability to secure the support he needs to obtain the speaker’s gavel during the floor vote on Jan. 3.

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Gingrich said during an interview with John Catsimatidis on Cats Roundtable that McCarthy can only afford to lose four people to still have enough votes to secure his position as the next speaker.

“My guess is by January 3rd, when they have the vote, [McCarthy] will have 218, and he’ll be speaker,” Gingrich said.

The former speaker said McCarthy should expect a fight from Democrats who oppose several of the steps he’s announced he would take once Republicans are in control.

McCarthy has stated he wants the first bill the House votes on to repeal the 87,000 IRS agents Democrats were hoping to add. He also has asked the Jan. 6 committee to preserve all records from its investigation so Republicans can look into why the Capitol was not secure on the day of the Capitol riot.

However, Gingrich said McCarthy will have a solid chance to get the GOP’s interests set in motion, as he will have the same majority that the current speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), held for the last two years of her leadership.

“With that majority, 222, she managed to pass trillions of dollars in spending and a whole bunch of radical left-wing bills,” Gingrich said. “You can get a lot done once you get to be speaker.”

Gingrich said he has high hopes for McCarthy as a speaker, but that he should not expect it to be easy.

“I think he’s got a pretty good case for being an effective conservative speaker,” Gingrich said. “It’s obviously going to be really complicated with the Democrats in the Senate — and with Biden feeling like he had a good election, which he did. Therefore, he’s not inclined to compromise on anything.”

McCarthy has vowed to take the voting process through several ballots before he drops out of the speaker race.

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The former speaker also acknowledged the importance of Georgia’s Senate race for the GOP, stating that the outcome could be the difference between a balance of power and an “absolute majority” for Democrats.

“The difference between Walker winning or losing is that if Walker wins, they are at 50-50, and the Democrats have to have power sharing, where the Republicans have the same number of seats on every committee as the Democrats do,” Gingrich said. “If Walker loses, that means the Democrats have a 51-49 majority, and that means they will have an absolute majority on every single committee. It’s actually a pretty darn important race. It’s up in the air.”