Breaking: Kevin McCarthy Will Face GOP Challenger for Speaker on House Floor
Issuing a clarion call for change, Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona has announced that when the new Congress convenes, he will wage a floor battle to become speaker of the House.
Biggs, who authored piece published by The Daily Caller on Tuesday making his case for a radical change of course for House Republicans, opposed current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California in the Republican Caucus, but lost 188 to 31, according to CBS News.
Republicans will control the House in January with a majority of 222-213. To be elected speaker, a candidate must win a majority in the 435-member House, which comes to 218 votes.
“I’m running for Speaker to break the establishment. Kevin McCarthy was created by, elevated by, and maintained by the establishment,” Biggs wrote in a Twitter post Tuesday.
I’m running for Speaker to break the establishment.
Kevin McCarthy was created by, elevated by, and maintained by the establishment.https://t.co/tKLPXUxSOA
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) December 6, 2022
In his Daily Caller piece, Biggs wrote flatly that, “It is time for new leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Biggs wrote that making McCarthy speaker would be a win for everyone but conservatives.
“The Left wants to see a McCarthy Speakership, as outgoing Majority Whip Clyburn said. Establishment Republicans want to see a continuation of the Swamp, as Paul Ryan has endorsed McCarthy for speaker. And, even phony conservative types, claim that McCarthy is the only guy for them (see radio talker Mark Levin for example, who after blasting McCarthy for years has decided that he is perfect for the job),” he wrote. “And people wonder why the establishment is the establishment.”
“We actually have the opportunity to dislodge the establishment and reinvigorate the America First movement that was founded by former President Donald Trump. Yes, that Donald Trump,” Biggs wrote.
Biggs excoriated McCarthy for working with Democrats on a budget bill “that will bloat our national debt and extend until next October” and remove the largest source of leverage House Republicans have over the Biden White House.
He wrote that McCarthy went along with the wrong crowd.
“When people like me instituted a plan to challenge the Democrats using every procedural tool we had, our leader castigated us. I was told that it is inconvenient to require votes on every bill,” he wrote, adding that standing firm would have brought Democrats to heel.
“I and my team were rebuffed. The result: the Democrats were able to dismantle America with virtually little resistance …
“The Left has patiently and unrelentingly taken control of our institutions. Leadership of both parties have either wittingly or carelessly facilitated the takeover of our institutions. And now, when pro-freedom, America First Republicans have a chance to effectuate change, even our own are fighting that. And you wonder why the establishment stays in power,” he wrote.
Using the term “existential crisis,” Biggs wrote, “It is inadequate to plead, beg, cajole, warn, or work with the establishment.”
“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 …
“We will never defeat or change the status quo, which is taking us to the Leftist’s vision of America, by selecting a status quo candidate as the third most powerful person in the government. The Republican candidate was created by, elevated by and maintained by the establishment,” Biggs wrote.
“Is this not the pivotal point of our generation? What will two more years under the Biden Regime look like if we do not have a leader who will stand up to its objectives? Or, If [sic] Republicans don’t use every available tool to preserve our rights and defeat the assault by Biden?”
On Sunday, current House Majority Whip James Clyburn said that if McCarthy finds himself shy a few votes in his effort to become speaker, he should try sounding out Democratic members of the House.
“If there are seven or eight people who are not going to vote for him, then I would advise him to go and look on the other side of the aisle and see whether or not there are some deals over there to be made as well,” the South Carolina Democrat said, according to The Hill.
“I think that if we could sit down together, we might be able to forge an agenda that would be acceptable to 218 people,” he said.
NBC, however, reported that Democrats may try to push Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York for speaker. Jeffries is currently slated to be the House minority leader.
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