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Kevin McCarthy Will Have a Challenger From This House Freedom Caucus Member As He Runs for Speaker

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  November 14, 2022 10:35 PM

After calls to delay selecting who Republicans would choose as their leaders, as well as some chatter about a challenge to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), announced on Monday night that he will mount such a challenge. McCarthy made his run official last week, with support from House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who will run for the House Majority Leader position. 

Reporting from Emily Brooks for The Hill highlighted Biggs' remarks for 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 shared.

The congressman's evening remarks were as breaking as they were because, as Brooks reported, "Biggs did not step up as an alternative to McCarthy at a House GOP leadership candidate forum on Monday afternoon, according to sources in the room."

While Biggs acknowledged the difficulty of prevailing against McCarthy, he also made it clear this isn't just about the Republican leader. "We’ll see if we can get the job done and the votes," Biggs also said. "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."

CNN's Manu Raju also tweeted about the challenge.

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One potential threat to McCarthy's speakership was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a fellow HFC member. It was revealed earlier on Monday, however, that she supports McCarthy. As Brooks reported earlier, Rep. Greene had said that any challenge would be "a bad strategy," given how slim any majority is looking to be. The two had reportedly been meeting, with CNN describing it as how "McCarthy has worked hard to court Greene."

McCarthy become Speaker of the House is not a forgone conclusion, least of all because control of the House has yet to be formally declared, though Republican chances of taking the chamber continue to improve. The smaller that majority ends up being though, the less defections McCarthy can afford. It's still likely, though, that McCarthy will get the gavel, as has been predicted for months, and he is considered the leading contender.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), another HFC member, made news on Monday night as well for in no uncertain terms making clear he will not be supporting McCarthy. "Gaetz" was trending over Twitter on Monday night. 

Gaetz was even discussing a Biggs candidacy before the congressman himself made it official, in a retweet from Russ Vought.

Complicating matters is that Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) made headlines telling NBC News, in an article aptly titled "Conservatives warn McCarthy: You don't have the votes for speaker" that he would even be willing to work with Democrats to elect a moderate Republican if McCarthy can't get enough votes, though he himself will support him. 

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), another HFC member, has been tweeting his view about the importance of delaying the leadership vote, as he did earlier on Monday. He too retweeted Vought, in this case with regards to Bacon's comments.