Trump’s supporters could throw Congress into chaos by nominating hi…

Supporters of Donald Trump are threatening to throw the newly-elected Congress into chaos by opposing the election of the current Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy as the new Speaker to replace Nancy Pelosi. It comes as splits between the old Republican establishment and Trump’s new wave of MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans has widened as a result of disappointing results in last week’s midterm elections.With 217 seats in the bag and 218 needed to hold a majority, the Republicans look set to get enough seats to officially control the House.But they are far short of the 245 to 265 seats seats hoped for and have also failed to take control of the Senate having actually lost a seat instead with Pennsylvania going Democrat blue.The two sides of the Republicans have started to blame each other for the failure to make gains with Mr Trump expected to declare tonight that he will make a third bid for the White House.But in a private briefing in London, a former senior member of the Trump White House had already warned this scenario would be the worst outcome for the Republicans.Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney pointed out even before the midterms, several MAGA supporters in Congress had made it clear they would nominate Mr Trump instead of Mr McCarthy.He said: “The Speaker does not need to be a sitting member of the House which means anybody can be nominated.”A small majority will cause problems and there could be a situation where a Speaker is not elected.” Some supporters of Trump in Congress want to nominate him for House Speaker (Image: GETTY)The rules state the Speaker must be elected on a simple majority of all the members of the House. If the Democrats sit on their hands and the Republican vote splits then no Speaker is elected.Congressman McCarthy though has been lobbying his colleagues to avoid a stand-off.He exited the two-hour meeting appearing confident ahead of Tuesday’s internal party vote – a crucial first test.Mr McCarthy said: ‘The one thing you got to think about is it’s going to be a tight majority so everyone is going to have to work together.’We’ll be successful as a team and we’ll be defeated as an individual if we don’t all work together.”However, it is not only McCarthy’s leadership that is under question ahead of Tuesday’s party votes but also his entire team, including Rep. Tom Emmer, the campaign chairman, who faces fury for the party’s losses.Across the Capitol, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is also encountering opposition from his right flank ahead of his own leadership election Wednesday.READ MORE:  Kevin McCarthy is hoping to be House Speaker (Image: GETTY)The position of House Speaker is crucial because he or she is the majority leader in the House of Representatives controlling the agenda but also next in line for the Presidency after the President and Vice President.Republican Congressman Jamie Raskin has already raised the possibility that Mr Trump could be nominated instead of Mr McCarthy.He said the issue had been discussed “repeatedly.”The Maryland Representative went on: “They [MAGA Republicans] might just vote for Trump, when they, you know, take the roll call for Speaker.”So we know that the hard right Freedom Caucus people are in search of another candidate and one potential candidate whose name has been floated is Donald Trump himself, because the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of the House. And they are talking about putting Trump right there.” DON’T MISSA US voting map shows parties of the right face a voter timebomb [REVEAL]’Time for Republicans to end the Trump purgatory and begin new era’ [INSIGHT]US midterms are proof, as if needed, the USA is still divided [REACT]