Rep. Andy Biggs expected to launch leadership challenge against Kevin McCarthy

Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) is reportedly considering a run against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to become the next speaker of the House if Republicans are able to regain control of the House.

Biggs has been critical of McCarthy’s leadership as the minority speaker, voicing concerns that McCarty isn’t willing to prioritise issues that many members in the party consider to be important. CNN first reported the news of Biggs’s possible run against McCarthy.

“I think we need to have a real discussion about whether he should be the speaker or not,” Biggs told the media on Thursday.

“I think that his statement recently that we shouldn’t impeach Secretary Mayorkas indicates that maybe we’re not going to be as aggressive going forward as we should be. I think we need to have a very positive statement of what we’re going to accomplish and do, and I haven’t seen that yet,” he added. “That’s — those are things that I think we should have a very frank discussion internally about, where we’re going to be going forward.”

Republicans will require confirmation of 218 seats before they can look to appoint a majority speaker.

Other GOP lawmakers have urged Republicans to avoid infighting.

“I think we don’t even know if we’re in the majority, so I think it’s responsible to just look and see where the cards fall right now, and we don’t know,” said newly elected Rep. George Santos (R-NY).