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ormer House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) is likely to run against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to become the next speaker of the House if Republicans lock down a majority in the lower chamber, a member of the powerful conservative group confirmed on Sunday.
Biggs has been critical of McCarthy’s leadership in the minority, voicing concerns that the California Republican won’t prioritize issues important to the far-right flank of the party. CNN first reported the news of Biggs’s likely bid against McCarthy.
“I think we need to have a real discussion about whether he should be the speaker or not,” Biggs told reporters 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.”
The news of Biggs’s expected run comes as House Republicans are slated to hold their leadership elections on Tuesday. A number of both current and incoming lawmakers have been vocal in their calls for the conference to push back its leadership elections until they know the final makeup of the House.
