Can Kevin McCarthy survive MAGA rebellion?

The loudest portion of House Republicans is perhaps putting Kevin McCarthy‘s speakership in peril, not even two weeks after he claimed GOP victory by helping prevent a debt default.

All votes in the House have been postponed due to the chamber’s most conservative members continuing to “hold the floor”—a sentiment echoed by Representatives Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and others who are part of the 50-plus member House Freedom Caucus. It has led to repeated failures on procedural votes on legislation attempting to stop the banning of gas stoves, perhaps ushering in the next cycle of intra-party warfare.

The speaker continues to publicly exude confidence in his party, saying Thursday that House Republicans will continue to work together to better the Congress. His negotiating tactics have been praised by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Gaetz sarcastically responded to a McCarthy tweet, “Nothing changes Washington like $4 Trillion in additional debt.” Questions of McCarthy’s viability aren’t just coming from a boisterous minority.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Punchbowl News that he has been on the outside looking in for major votes, including those that led to the compromise between Republicans and Democrats on raising the debt ceiling—as well as the 15 rounds of votes that led to McCarthy becoming speaker in the first place.

The Louisiana Republican has bills that he wants to bring forward but may not come to fruition due to the present fracturing in the party.

Included is a gun rights resolution on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pistol brace regulations originally introduced by Georgia Representative Andrew Clyde—who has claimed that his “no” vote on the debt deal led to his legislation being “threatened.” Scalise has reportedly worked behind the scenes to bring it to the floor, even though moderates may not be in favor.

“There was a lot of anger being expressed,” he told Punchbowl News. “And frankly, you know…a lot of the anger they expressed was that they felt they were misled by the speaker during the negotiations in January on the speaker vote. Whatever commitments were made, they felt like he misled them, and broke promises. And they expressed that.

“I don’t know what those promises were. [I] understand some of them went and talked to [McCarthy] and when they left they still publicly were expressing anger with him over what they perceived as broken promises, and that’s got to get resolved.”

Moderate House Republicans are attempting to quell the smaller but outspoken opposition.

“You’ve got a small group of people who are pissed off that are keeping the House of Representatives from functioning,” said Representative Steve Womack, according to The Guardian. “This is insane. This is not the way a governing majority is expected to behave, and frankly, I think there will be a political cost to it.”

New York Republican Representative Mike Lawler told MSNBC‘s Morning Joe that the House Freedom Caucus is engaging in a “temper tantrum,” imploring them to return to work and actually pass legislation.

“The vast majority of our conference is unified and we will continue to hold firm,” Lawler said. “We’re not going to be overrun by a handful of folks.”

Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser in the Trump administration, has continually sided with the House Freedom Caucus.

“MAGA took territory—The House Floor—now Hold the Floor…force change…,” Bannon wrote on the social media platform Gettr on Wednesday.

Newsweek called Bannon for comment.

‘Headaches are not over’

A motion to vacate McCarthy’s speakership only requires one member per House rules. However, Lisa Parshall, a political science professor at Daemen University, told Newsweek that if the hard-right members go that route, they must be confident it would have the votes to pass without a broad coalition due to the potential of wasting the option as a leverage tool.

Rather than exercise that ability, she said the “hold the floor” mentality is the members’ next best option at this juncture.

“McCarthy’s ability to hold the caucus and secure the passage of the [debt] deal with spending concessions despite Biden’s pledge for a clean bill demonstrates how even a narrow majority can win policy concessions with discipline,” Parshall said. “The ‘hold the floor’ revolt shows how hard it is to maintain discipline with the fringe of the caucus.

“So, his leadership is probably going to continue to be tested on less consequential legislation. His headaches are not over.”

Jenna Bednar, professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan, told Newsweek that although the headaches will likely continue while some members keep McCarthy “hostage,” it may inadvertently shore up the party’s moderate wing in the chamber.

“The Freedom Caucus, angry about the debt deal, are…defining ‘unity’ to mean bend the Republican agenda to meet the preferences of 10 extremist members,” Bednar said. “Their holdout may have an unexpected consequence: moderate Republicans may find it more palatable to negotiate with moderate Democrats.

“Could the Freedom Caucus accidentally bring a heartbeat back to congressional bipartisanship?”