Kevin McCarthy Says Democrats Can Take House Speakership If GOP Doesn’t Unite Behind Him

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) urged his fellow Republicans to “speak as one voice” in response to a movement inside the GOP against his nomination to become the next Speaker of the House.

McCarthy said that, if the party doesn’t vote as a united caucus, Democrats could end up picking the next Speaker, despite Republicans having won more seats in the House in the midterms.

“We have to speak as one voice. We will only be successful if we work together, or we’ll lose individually,” he said in an interview aired on Newsmax. “And if we don’t do this right, the Democrats can take the majority. If we play games on the floor, the Democrats can end up picking who the Speaker is.”

McCarthy won the GOP’s nomination for Speaker in a 188-31 vote, but he still needs to secure a majority of 218 votes on the floor on January 3, the first day of the new Congress.

In November, Republicans elected 220 representatives, a narrower-than-expected majority. That means McCarthy needs to rely on almost all GOP votes to guarantee the Speakership.

He is concerned because a group of Republicans led by Rep. Andy Biggs (Arizona) is opposing his nomination, claiming he would not do enough to fight the left and investigate the Biden administration.