GOP hardliner Rep. Andy Biggs challenges Kevin McCarthy for speaker spot
House Rep. Andy Biggs from Arizona announced on Tuesday he is running against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California for speaker of the House.
Rep. Biggs has been called a Republican hardliner who was the former chair of the right-wing Freedom Caucus.
Biggs’ announcement first came out in an op-ed for the conservative publication Daily Caller.
In is Biggs wrote, “We cannot let this all too rare opportunity to effectuate structural change pass us by because it is uncomfortable to challenge the Republican candidate who is a creature of the establishment status quo, or because the challenge is accompanied by some minimal risk.”
He urged those around him to “break the establishment.”
Reuters reported that the possibility of Biggs as speaker could put the GOP in a position of turmoil as the Republican-led chamber meets in January.
While it could be a long shot to expect Biggs to win the speaker role, both allies of Biggs and those of McCarthy have said they plan to hold multiple votes until a new speaker is elected.
Republicans took a majority of the House in this year’s midterm elections by a slim margin.
