On Thursday, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who is one of President Donald Trump's most ardent supporters in Congress, laid out requirements for a Republican leader who wants to earn her vote for House Speaker if Republicans can retake the majority after the 2022 elections. She also expressed skepticism about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's chances of being elected to the position.
Greene, who earlier informed reporters that she would be setting out a list of demands to gain her speaker support, discussed some of the obstacles McCarthy would face in his bid for the speaker's gavel. McCarthy is running for the speaker's gavel.
The Republican advised Gaetz that she wanted fellow Republicans in Congress as part of her requests. For their membership on the January 6 committee, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming were ejected from the House Republican Conference, something McCarthy has so far declined to do.
She also said that she had no regard for the present Republican leadership.
"We know that Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our conference. He doesn't have the full support to be speaker," Greene said on an episode of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz's podcast that aired Thursday morning. "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 order from Greene comes amid growing dissatisfaction among some Republicans with the leadership of the Republican Party in the House, as McCarthy pursues the job of Speaker of the House.
Even though the prospective speaker's contest is still more than a year away, Trump's congressional backers, who have expressed growing doubt and dissatisfaction with McCarthy in recent weeks, have already begun to flex their muscles in preparation for the campaign.
If these Trump loyalists stay together, McCarthy might be in for a math issue, depending on the size of the party's margins. The Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives, which previously denied McCarthy the speakership, has around 40 members.
Greene also wants Rep. John Katko, a moderate Republican from New York who is a McCarthy supporter, to be demoted from his position as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
She backed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, voted to impeach Trump, and supported the Democratic-led campaign to remove Greene from her committees. Katko represents a vital swing district.