Exclusive — Jim Banks: Voters Would Be ‘Immediately Betrayed’ if GOP Worked with Democrats to Oppose McCarthy’s Speakership 

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, spoke with Breitbart News about House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) run for Speaker and said it would be a “very shameful moment” and that voters would be “immediately betrayed” if establishment Republicans worked with Democrats to install a moderate Speaker.

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Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle opened the interview by asking Banks to discuss how House Republicans can take advantage of the slim majority next Congress. Banks noted that no matter the size of the majority, Republicans still have increased powers, such as control over congressional committees.

“We have to get get to work right away. And the most important thing that we can do, it doesn’t matter if we have a one seat majority, or a majority of 40, or 50, that doesn’t prevent any committee or any committee chair from focusing on Oversight and Investigations and accountability,” Banks said.

He also said the GOP needs to move “quickly” to impeach President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “for violating the rule of law for what he’s done at the southern border that has left the border wide open.”

Banks noted Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s Friday night disclosure of the Twitter Files and called on Republicans to investigate “big tech’s collusion with the Biden White House” and big tech’s influence on the 2020 presidential election.

Banks also talked about how hoped-for Speaker of the House, GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), plans to set up a select committee on China to give America a chance to “push back and fight back against the Chinese Communist Party.”

Boyle and Banks then discussed how today’s GOP is a “new Republican Party” that is more ferocious than previous eras, with leadership that would encourage investigations into Democrat corruption.

Boyle discussed how it took Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) more than one year and struggles with members of his own party to investigate former President Barack Obama’s Operation Fast and Furious, and then Banks addressed the importance of Republican leadership.

“We have to have our plans ready to go January 3rd, have these committee chairs ready to take a page out of the Devin Nunez style of playbook for providing this type of oversight, oversight and investigation,” Banks said. “So will we have the courage to impeach Secretary Mayorkas? I hope so. That will be a sign of whether or not this really is the new Republican Party that you and I have talked about so many times before, Matt.”

While highlighting the importance of Republican leadership, the conversation switched to McCarthy’s current run for House Speaker. Boyle talked about how certain House Republicans are holding out from supporting McCarthy’s speakership, which would then lead to Democrats working with certain Republicans to install a moderate Speaker.

Banks said that outcome would be a “very shameful moment” for the GOP and urged his colleagues to rally behind McCarthy for Speaker.

Banks said, “So that would be a very shameful moment. If we did win the majority, if the American people gave us this historic opportunity that, Matt, has only happened three times in my lifetime, Republicans have won the majority in the House of Representatives. If we win the majority, but you have a few very moderate members of the Republican conference, reach across the aisle and work with Democrats to choose a Democrat speaker, say Nancy Pelosi or someone else to be the Speaker of the house, then we’ve immediately betrayed the American people who’ve given us this historic opportunity. So I hope that’s something that some of the holdouts are aware of, of that possibility that we’ll do everything we can to block that from happening. That’s what I’m concerned about.”

After talking about the House Speaker election, Boyle talked about Indiana Sen. Mike Braun’s (R) rumored run for Indiana governor and asked Banks if he is looking at a run for Senate if Braun decides to follow through with his gubernatorial run.

Banks noted Braun’s decision to file paperwork to take the first steps to launch a gubernatorial campaign and told Boyle he is considering the Senate run and would take the holiday break to pray over the decision with his family.

“So I’m going to spend the holidays through Christmas praying about a big decision for me and my family, obviously a very big decision for for all of us as we think about the possibility of running statewide and, and running for an open Senate seat if Mike Braun officially announces that he’s going to leave it open in the 2024 election,” Banks said. “But, Indiana deserves a conservative Senator like Mike Braun. And we’ll be strongly considering if that’s a place where I can make a difference moving forward too.”

Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.