Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) announced late Monday that he would challenge House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to become the next Speaker of the House.
The Arizona congressman shared his plan to seek the top House position during an interview on Newsmax.
“We have a new paradigm here, and I think the country wants a different direction from the House of Representatives. And it’s a new world, and, yes, I’m going to be nominated tomorrow to — to the position of Speaker of the House,” Biggs said during the interview.
“We’ll see if we can get the job done and the votes,” Biggs added. “It’s going to be tough. I mean, Kevin — Kevin has raised a lot of money and done a lot of things. But this is not just about Kevin. I think it’s about the institutional direction and trajectory.”
Biggs, the former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, launched the bid following a lackluster performance by the GOP during last week’s midterm elections. The House is still expected to tip toward Republicans, but not with the sweeping “red wave” predicted by some ahead of Election Day.
The Daily Wire reached out to the office of Rep. Biggs on Tuesday. No formal statement has yet been released beyond the congressman’s interview, according to spokesman Matthew Tragesser.
The Senate remains in the hands of Democrats, with 50 seats already projected to the GOP’s 49. One seat will be decided in Georgia’s December 6 runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican hopeful Herschel Walker, as neither reached the necessary 50% of votes needed according to state law.
The disappointing results have led to resistance from some Republican leaders regarding who should lead the party in both the House and Senate. In the House, Louisiana’s Steve Scalise is also seeking the majority leader position.
To become speaker, McCarthy would need a majority of his party’s support in a secret-ballot vote on Tuesday. If he moves forward, he’ll then need at least 218 votes to secure a majority when the new Congress arrives in January.
In the Senate, some Republicans have also stated their concerns regarding Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continuing as their leader. The Daily Wire previously reported that several high-profile lawmakers, including Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), have circulated a letter asking their colleagues to postpone leadership elections.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also urged a delay to the scheduled vote.
“We should not have a Senate GOP leadership vote until we have a clear explanation for why our 2022 campaign efforts failed AND until we have a clear understanding of the political & policy direction for the GOP Senate moving forward,” he tweeted.
We should not have a Senate GOP leadership vote until we have a clear explanation for why our 2022 campaign efforts failed AND until we have a clear understanding of the political & policy direction for the GOP Senate moving forward
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 14, 2022
“First we need to make sure that those who want to lead us are genuinely committed to fighting for the priorities & values of the working Americans (of every background) who gave us big wins in states like #Florida,” he added in another post.
