House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday refused to say what an anti-establishment nominee for president would mean for Republicans hoping to hold their majorities in Congress, insisting that the GOP is poised for a good year no matter who leads it into November.
Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, said it is too early to tell how the race will shake out, anyway, since New Hampshire and later primary states “probably have mattered more for who the Republican nominee is than Iowa.”
“I trust the American people,” he told reporters. “I think they’ll get it right.”
House GOP leaders have been careful to stay out of the nominating process, as Mr. Trump roils the race with inflammatory comments on immigrants and his proposal to ban Muslims from the U.S. until the nation gets a handle on the threat posed by Islamist radicals.
Mr. Cruz is running neck and neck with Mr. Trump in Iowa, yet he won few friends in Congress with his quixotic push to defund Obamacare in 2013. Last year, he used a floor speech to accuse Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of lying.
Corners of the GOP establishment worry that Senate and House candidates down the 2016 ballot could suffer, should either of those men top the ticket and alienate key voting blocs.
Mr. McCarthy said the field will sort itself out, so for now the House is working on a bold agenda that should entice the eventual winner.
“Whoever the nominee is, they’re going to want to be a part of what the House … puts together,” he said.
Mr. McCarthy hasn’t endorsed anyone in the race, though several lawmakers have rallied around Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, as a nominee who can unite the party and take on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Sen. Bernie Sanders from the Democratic side.
Mr. Rubio is eyeing a third-place finish in Iowa, where Mr. Cruz is hoping to edge Mr. Trump by contrasting his consistent conservative values with the real estate mogul’s mixed record on Republican priorities.
For his part, Mr. McCarthy said he had no reason to doubt Mr. Trump’s commitment to the party. The front-runner has no voting record, he said, so he can only rely on Mr. Trump’s track record in business and what the mogul says on the trail.
“I take him as a conservative,” he said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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