Representative Andy Biggs, 64, of Arizona, seems unlikely to win the speakership. But both his allies and those of McCarthy, 57, of California, have pledged to hold multiple votes until a new speaker is chosen; a prospect that could lead to party turmoil.
WASHINGTON - A hardline Republican U.S. lawmaker on Tuesday announced he will challenge House of Representatives party chief Kevin McCarthy for the House speakership, a prospect that could lead to party turmoil when the Republican-led chamber convenes in January.
Biggs, who mounted a failed bid for the House Republican speaker nomination last month, said he had decided to oppose McCarthy to "break 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," Biggs wrote in an opinion piece for the Daily Caller, a right-leaning news and opinion website.
Republicans won a single-digit House majority in this year's midterm elections, a slim margin that would allow just a handful of Republican opponents to block McCarthy from becoming speaker.
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