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Hey, good morning, playbookers, and Rulgun, Mnobolin.

It's Friday, and here's a question for you.

Are Republicans in disarray?

This is your Politico Playbook Daily Briefing.

The toughest trial representative Kevin McCarthy faces on his way to becoming House Speaker

isn't reclaiming the majority.

It's what comes afterward.

That's the blunt takeaway from Politico's Olivia Beaver's big piece this morning,

drawing on interviews with more than 40 Republicans, which, quote, point to two worrisome factions

for McCarthy in a future vote for Speaker, conservatives, and wild cards.

While McCarthy's elevation of Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, a longtime Democratic antagonist

anointed to lead Republicans on the oversight and later judiciary committees, was

considered the turning point in his relationship with the right.

Broadly speaking, not all conservatives are fully sold on McCarthy to lead a future GOP

majority.

When asked about her choice, Representative Lauren Bobert said she wants Trump to be speaker.

Representative Matt Gates, a longtime McCarthy critic, has said he'll nominate Trump to lead the house should have flipped to the GOP.

More than any other moves he's made this year, McCarthy's shifts on the Capitol riot have tested his viability with both the ideological polls of

his conference. His decision to visit Trump in Florida three weeks after January 6th

alienated some GOP members who hoped the ex-president's power would wane. Since then, a small but

potentially pivotal clutch of centrists has privately vented about feeling swept to the side following

...