(FreedomBeacon.com)- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is believed by many to be the frontrunner for the Speaker of the House position when the new Republican-led House convenes for its next term.
But, even if he does hold that position, some former politicians believe that he won’t be the one calling the shots.
Joe Walsh, who is a former Illinois Republican member of Congress, spoke with MSNBC over the weekend, calling McCarthy a “hollow man” who would essentially be following the orders of a much more boisterous Republican member of the House — Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Walsh was contending in his interview with Katie Phang that Greene would essentially be serving as the Speaker. As he explained:
“Kevin McCarthy is a hollow man. Look this is too late, these House moderates who want Republicans to focus on immigration or health care or inflation, it’s too late. The American people don’t know who these House Republican moderates are. They know who Marjorie Taylor Greene is.
“McCarthy will probably be Speaker, but let’s be real. Marjorie Taylor Greene these next two years will be the Speaker of the House. She will have McCarthy by the short hairs every single day of the week for the next two years.”
As the current leader of the Republican Party in the House, it’s assumed that McCarthy will be the one to serve as the next Speaker. To do so, though, he’ll still need to get the requisite 218 votes.
As of Tuesday, the GOP holds 219 seats in the House, with Democrats holding 212 and four being not officially determined still.
With McCarthy probably not getting the support of many of the more conservative members of the GOP — as well as some on the other side of the aisle — it’s possible he won’t ascend to the position.
McCarthy won the nomination of the Republican Party for the Speaker position already, but will need a full majority of all House members to win the Speaker role — just as anyone else would.
Still, while there are detractors of McCarthy’s among both Republicans and Democrats, there isn’t another clear candidate who might be able to garner that many votes.
Greene is loud and certainly has a following, but it’s unlikely she would get much support — if any at all — from Democrats, and would also have plenty of Republicans who would vote against her.
Still, she’s built enough power for herself in the House that many see her as extremely influential. She’s a major supporter of former President Donald Trump, and is often seen as one of the leaders of his cause in Congress. In fact, she has been mentioned off-handedly as a possible running mate for Trump in 2024.
On Sunday, Democratic California Representative Adam Schiff commented on the current situation among Republicans in the House when talking with ABC. He said:
“[McCarthy] is a very weak leader of his conference … It’s going to be chaos with Republican leadership. Sadly, the crazy caucus has grown among the Republicans. Many Republicans who won primaries in deeply red districts are coming to Congress like the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and the Paul Gosars.”
