'The looting has commenced': GOP insider warns Kevin McCarthy is letting himself get ransacked

On CNN Thursday, longtime Mitch McConnell strategist and Republican insider Scott Jennings bemoaned the state of the House of Representatives as the chaos surrounding the Speaker fight continued.

This came shortly after an announcement that a "deal" was in the works to secure support for embattled GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that gives far-right lawmakers nearly everything they asked for — only for lawmakers and reporters to swiftly clarify that this deal doesn't actually give McCarthy enough votes from defectors to get him to the required 218 votes to be elected Speaker.

"What do you make of that?" asked anchor Erin Burnett.

"You know, I was cringing a little when I heard [CNN congressional reporter] Manu [Raju] describing McCarthy being behind closed doors, getting last-minute requests," said Jennings. "Just the idea the store is open and the looting has commenced."

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"He cannot get to 218 tonight," said Jennings. "And I mean, he's basically dealing now to get to a deal on adjournment. And so, I mean, we're obviously going to have to wait for them to come out. In this round, as best I can tell, none of the anti-McCarthy votes have yet switched. And there's still some voting to go."

"But that was what I was looking for, was there going to be any momentum on this, and it doesn't look like we're going to get it, but they're still back there," he added.

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Scott Jennings says "the looting has commenced" in the Speaker fight www.youtube.com