The conservative Republicans in the House have long opposed Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

As CNN reported back in 2015, "Republicans from the freedom caucus, the tea party caucus, liberty caucus and the conservative opportunity group interviewed the three Speaker candidates."

It was a critical moment for McCarthy, the Californian who is viewed warily by conservatives skeptical of his ties to outgoing Speaker John Boehner[.] ... Multiple uncommitted Freedom Caucus members tell CNN they want more detail on how the next Speaker will change the way the House operates and commit to a more inclusive process for conservatives to help craft the party's agenda.

As Representative Steve King explained of McCarthy, "he's been there with John Boehner each step of the way."

When McCarthy was again seeking the speaker position just last year, conservatives again rallied against the California moderate.

MAGA favorite Matt Gaetz tried to alert the party of the need for actual America First leadership, which McCarthy did not represent.

"With such a slim majority, we shouldn't be starting the C-Team.  We need to put our star players in a position to shine brightest so that we can attract more people to our policies and ideas," he said.  "The policies Kevin McCarthy has pushed are as unhelpful as they are unserious."

The only reason Kevin McCarthy was able to overcome the conservative opposition was with the powerful endorsement of President Trump.

Now the chips are down, with the weaponized Department of Justice bringing multiple indictments against the former president — in addition to jailing peaceful protesters, targeting concerned conservative parents, prosecuting pro-life protesters, and recently shooting an elderly Trump-supporter over angry, unhinged social media posts.

But where is Kevin McCarthy?

With the upcoming budget fight, McCarthy has the perfect opportunity to force a fight over defunding the DOJ and the political prosecutions.

In a recent Fox News interview, former House speaker Newt Gingrich forcefully advocated using the leverage of the next budget battle to defund these prosecutions.

Republicans should cut off [prosecutor] Jack Smith's money. ... They should do whatever it takes to close down this entire anti-constitutional, ruthless breaking of the law[.] ... I think this is so dangerous to the very survival of the republic that it has to be stopped.

Yet Speaker McCarthy has remained true to the RINO reputation fixed upon him by conservative critics.  Rather than announce his intention to stand with former president Trump and the thousands of Americans who are being unfairly targeted by the DOJ, Kevin McCarthy is earning the praise of Democratic leader Chuck Schumer by "pitching a stopgap government funding package to avoid a federal shutdown after next month."

It is not the first time "McCarthy got rolled" by Democrats.  Just over two months ago, McCarthy "told the right-wing hooligans to stuff it, and he took his debt compromise to the House floor — where something remarkable happened," according to Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank: "nearly 80 percent of Democrats voted for the package, putting more D's than R's in the yes column and lifting the bill to passage."

Without the intense pressure of America First activists, it appears McCarthy is planning to stay true to his establishment GOP past again at the end of this month.  But it is not too late for McCarthy to change course. 

He can begin laying the groundwork for a meaningful budget fight, moving beyond the talking points, and using the tools at the disposal of the House of Representatives in defense of President Trump and the millions of patriots who supported him.

The question is, where is Kevin McCarthy going to align?  With the establishment or with the American people?  And perhaps the better question is, where are we going to be?  Working to encourage the best from McCarthy?  Or sitting on the sidelines complaining?

Image: Kevin McCarthy.  Credit: World Economic Forum via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.