Kinzinger: Zero percent chance GOP House would buck Trump

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on Wednesday he was concerned about the potential lack of checks and balances across government branches, especially if Republicans keep control of the House.

In a panel discussion on CNN, Kinzinger said he couldn’t imagine a Republican majority ever bucking President-elect Trump and providing a check on executive power.

"On paper, it's a real thing. In practice, no," Kinzinger said about the likelihood of checks and balances during a second Trump administration if Republicans have control of the Senate, House and White House.

“There is no chance, 0.0 percent chance, that Donald Trump says something, and Republicans in the House buck him anymore,” he continued.

Kinzinger noted that the House Republicans elected for the next Congress will be more closely aligned with the former president than previous Congresses have been. Those who challenged Trump publicly in the past largely have been unseated or retired from office.

“There was about a 20 percent chance we would buck him when I was in, but anybody that was going to do that, they're out now. They're gone,” Kinzinger said. “So this will be a compliant Congress, compliant House.”

Kinzinger said the American people, on Tuesday, knew they were voting for “unchecked power.”

“Look, I mean, the reality is, everybody knew this when they voted yesterday. So yes, the American people voted for basically this unchecked power that the president's going to have,” he said.

Republicans won the White House and the Senate majority, and appear to have an easier path to winning the House, though Democrats still have a shot.