(The Hill) — Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) late Monday announced a run for speaker of the House, challenging House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the Republican conference’s nomination to the post.
“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 … the position of speaker of the House,” Biggs said in a Monday interview on Newsmax.
“We’ll see if we can get the job done and the votes,” Biggs 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.”
The challenge from Biggs, a former chair of the House Freedom Caucus, comes as House Republicans’ expectations of a red wave crashed into a ripple in last week’s midterms. Election projections have still not yet called a majority of House seats in Republicans’ favor, but the GOP believe they will end up with a slim majority.
McCarthy needs to win a majority from House GOP members in a secret-ballot election Tuesday to secure his conference’s nomination for the post. After that, all House members will vote on the floor on the first day of the new Congress in January, where McCarthy would need at least 218 votes to secure the speakership, assuming all 435 members are sworn in that day.
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