Nebraska Republican warns Matt Gaetz he'll work with Dems if he tanks Kevin McCarthy

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) sent out a warning shot to hardliner opponents of Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that he is prepared to work with Democrats if they remain completely unwilling to compromise.

In an editorial for The Daily Caller, Bacon argued that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his four fellow refusers were doing grave harm to the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives and would leave him with no choice but to seek help from Democrats to build a functional majority in Congress.

"Much has been made of me saying I would work with moderate Democrats to elect a more moderate speaker," he wrote. "But my actual words were that if the five refused to coalesce around what the vast majority of the conference wants, I’m willing to work across the aisle to find an agreeable Republican. We cannot be held captive by a small number and run the risk of delaying the formation of committees and working on the agenda we promised Americans this past November."

Even though McCarthy has given into multiple demands from his critics, none of them have so far shown any willingness to pledge him their votes and have insisted that the GOP pick a new leader.

Bacon concluded his editorial by encouraging conservatives to direct their frustrations at the small minority of "Never McCarthy" Republicans who are putting the entire party's agenda at risk.

"My point is that if a few won’t be part of the 218 members we need to govern, we’ll then find other ways to get to 218!" he wrote.