GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger says House Republicans will have a 'totally nonfunctional majority' in 2023 and McCarthy as speaker will be 'the equivalent of the dog who caught the car'

• There will be a totally nonfunctional majority in the House of Representatives.

• Kinzinger said that McCarthy will struggle with a slim GOP advantage.

• The congressman said that Kevin would be like the dog who caught the car.

The Republicans secured a majority in the US House of Representatives this week, flipping the lower chamber from the Democrats more than a week after the elections.

Despite their newfound House majority, the GOP will have a razor-thin edge, with just a few races left to call.

A prominent member of the House January 6 committee who's retiring at the end of the current Congress, Kinzinger said the party will have a "nonfunctional majority" once the new session begins in January 2023.

Kinzinger said that Democrats would need 218 votes to get the speaker's gavel on the floor.

It takes a lot of people to deny the Speaker of the House his votes. When it's three, four, five, you can find it, that's why I think the Democrats need to be thinking about working people like AOC, and finding a Republican that is agreeable.

Kinzinger, who was first elected in 2010 and was formerly close to McCarthy, slammed his onetime friend who is navigating a delicate situation of trying to appease far-right, mainstream conservative, and moderate members of his caucus.

Kinzinger said that this couldn't happen to a nicer man. Kevin McCarthy was a good friend of mine. He has been the most disappointing person in my life.

He criticized the new chair of the House Republican Conference, who replaced Liz Cheney, for speaking out against former President Donald Trump.

I believe that if Kevin goes down, I can be the next speaker. She endorsed Donald Trump right away because of the lack of red waves. How pathetic can you be? He asked, how obvious can you be?

The dynamics in the caucus are shown here. Kevin will get a majority of the caucus because Andy Biggs is running against him. If they end up with 220 people, that's a good thing. He requires more than 100. That's going to be finished. Is it possible to get to 218 on the floor?

You can get power there. There is a question about why Marjorie Taylor Greene is so supportive of Kevin. She dislikes Kevin. Something has been promised to her. I will make sure that you get it. There is a question about why Matt Gaetz is against Marjorie Taylor. He said that Kevin McCarthy wants to be more famous than Marjorie Taylor Greene.

'Each person now has the power of a senator'

Kinzinger blasted the Freedom Caucus as the "Freedom Club," saying that their ideology has never been principle-based but has been more about fame.

McCarthy will have his hands full if he becomes speaker because members in the GOP caucus will have veto power over most legislation, according to the congressman.

The majority is nonfunctional because of the Republicans' desire to defund the health care law. We don't de fund it enough. If we want to pass the budget, we have to defund the health care law because there are not enough Republicans to support it. Each person has the power of a senator if you're down to one or two.

Kevin will probably be the same dog as the one who caught the car.

Even with larger caucus sizes, past GOP speakers still struggled to round up votes on key issues.

One of the best deal-makers was John Boehner. He couldn't figure it out. Paul Ryan was aware of the policies. He was a decent person. The congressman said that he was struggling. Kevin McCarthy is going to have a hard time.

Business Insider has an article on it.