Members within the Republican Party believe that if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy earns the House speaker nomination in January, it will be Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who influences his actions.
Republicans secured the House by a narrow margin after last month's midterm elections and are moving forward with electing a new speaker to replace longtime House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. McCarthy, a California Republican, is the frontrunning candidate while several other names have surfaced on possible contenders, including Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican who lost her reelection bid and will finish her term at the end of this year.
Greene, a Georgia Republican supported by former President Donald Trump and even rumored to be a choice for his 2024 running mate, has put her full support behind McCarthy. Some Republicans said this stems from promises McCarthy made to Greene if he earns the nomination.
On Friday, former GOP chairman Michael Steele said during MSNBC's Morning Joe panel that despite a shift from House Republicans toward more moderate beliefs, big-name Republicans like Trump, political commentator and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, and others still hold the most sway over the party when it comes to decisions. Steele added that he expects Greene to influence McCarthy on decisions that are important to far-right Republicans like Trump.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene will be the most powerful speaker of the House because she will have the opportunity to control what comes out of Kevin's mouth around the things that matter to that small cadre," Steele said.
Last month, Greene made an appearance on Steve Bannon's podcast where she urged the Republican Party to put its full support behind McCarthy to prevent a "RINO," which is an acronym for Republican in name only, from securing the position. However, some Republicans are wondering if the GOP lawmaker is supporting McCarthy because he has promised her a place on committees if he's nominated.
Greene was stripped of her committee assignments last February after she publicly supported conspiracy theories, such as questioning the legitimacy of school shootings.
According to a CBS News article at the time, she also shared videos boasting antisemitic and anti-Muslims statements. All Democrats and 11 Republicans within the House voted to remove Greene from her committees, although the article reported McCarthy opposed the action.
Steele said now, McCarthy is promising Greene a return to her committee assignments if he secures the House speaker position.
"I just call the thing what it is," Steele said Friday. "You call it shadow, I call it the thing. It's the job, because what you can't make that separation, when she is—you're dragging her to your events and propping her up, telling her we're going to put you back in committee, we're going to give you a powerful leadership role."
Not all Republicans in the House are happy with the prospect, though. Newsweek reported earlier this month that after Greene voiced her support for McCarthy as House speaker, fellow Trump-supporter and Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, said that McCarthy would turn on Greene at the "first opportunity," despite what he might have promised her.
"I wish that wasn't the case, but it is the conduct, and it is the pattern and practice of Kevin McCarthy over years that showcase this," Gaetz said on the social media platform, FrankSpeech.com.
Meanwhile, Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, recently called out McCarthy for being a "hollow man" who will have to listen to everything Greene says.
In an interview with MSNBC's Katie Phang, Walsh said, "Kevin McCarthy is a hollow man. Look this is too late, these House moderates who want Republicans to focus on immigration or healthcare 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."
Newsweek reached out to Greene and a political strategist firm for comment.
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