McCarthy on Kelly replacement speculation: ‘Those hypotheticals are not healthy’

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Wednesday that discussions naming him as a possible replacement for White House chief of staff John Kelly “are not healthy.” 

“Look, there is no opening. I think Gen. Kelly is an amazing person. I watched what he’s been able to do with this White House, put structure to it, and I think those hypotheticals are not healthy in any shape or form. We all work very well together. And we’ve got a lot of work still to do,” McCarthy said in an interview on talk radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show.

{mosads}McCarthy also looked to dismiss speculation he could replace Kelly at a Capitol Hill press conference on Wednesday. 

“First of all, I have not spoken to the president about anything about a job. And I never have. And there is no job opening,” he said. 

Kelly has come under fierce scrutiny for his handling of former staff secretary Rob Porter’s resignation earlier this month in the face of domestic abuse allegations. 

However, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN on Wednesday that President Trump still has confidence in Kelly as his chief of staff. 

McCarthy has developed a strong relationship with Trump that stands out amid Trump’s sometimes-strained relations with other Capitol Hill GOP leaders. 

Axios reported last April that McCarthy was on the shortlist to replace then-White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.