Top House Republicans predict McCarthy will win Speakership

Republican Reps. Mike Turner (Ohio) and Michael McCaul (Texas) on Sunday predicted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) will win the Speakership when the next Congress kicks off next year.

“He is the leader. He’s been the leader of our team. And he’s going to stay the leader of our team,” Turner said on ABC’s “This Week” with host Martha Raddatz, appearing alongside McCaul. 

“I think he’s got the majority of our conference, and the fact is: what’s the alternative here? Kevin has proven to be the leader of the Republican House and I do think he will get the votes to 218 on Jan. 3,” McCaul said. 

McCarthy won the House Republicans’ nomination to be Speaker in a 188-31 vote, but he needs to win a majority of all lawmakers casting a ballot in a floor vote when the next Congress convenes in January in order to win the leadership position.

Turner and McCaul, the ranking members of the House Intelligence and the House Foreign Affairs committees, respectively, both expressed confidence that McCarthy could get the votes — despite concern about opponents within the party.

Republicans won control of the House in this year’s midterms and will hold a slim majority with 220 seats, with two races still uncalled. 

House Republicans have since been prepping for how they’ll lead the lower chamber — with plans to launch investigations into the U.S.-Mexico border, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

McCarthy said he’s gearing up for a House select committee on China if he’s elected Speaker, to press China on the COVID-19 pandemic — and came under fire for saying he’ll remove Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) from their committee posts.