Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy won the Republicans’ designation for House speaker on Tuesday, but questions remain over his ability to lock up the spot on the floor in January.
McCarthy, R-Calif., beat back a challenge by more conservative elements in the House Republican Conference represented by Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona. The final vote tally was 188-31.
Most of Biggs’ support came from members of the hard line House Freedom Caucus. Biggs had previously chaired the
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks about Republicans’ “Commitment to America” agenda at DMI Companies in Monongahela, Pa., Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.
(AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
group, which counts more than two dozen House Republicans among its membership, between 2019 and 2022.McCarthy, meanwhile, was able to assemble a large cross-section of the House GOP conference behind his candidacy. That included conservative hardliners like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and centrists like Rep. Brian FitzPatrick of Pennsylvania.
