Andy Biggs argues House needs stronger leader than McCarthy in new op-ed
Misty Severi
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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) claimed that the House of Representatives needs a stronger Republican leader than Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in a Washington Examiner op-ed published Tuesday in his latest bid for speaker of the House.
Biggs, who lost his first bid for the position last month, argued that the Republican Party needed a strong captain in the House to curtail high Democratic spending, investigate the Biden administration, and reunite the party.
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“The speaker is the one who sets the agenda for the House. And if you get to point the direction of the House, you will set the tone of the nation,” Biggs wrote. “That means you can either pressure the Senate to rationally reject a massive, budget-busting, national-debt-increasing, spending omnibus bill, or you can quietly acquiesce to the spendthrift ways of the Senate.”
McCarthy, Biggs argued, will not go far enough to prosecute the Biden administration and silently supports a spending bill that will determine the budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
“Mr. McCarthy professes to have leadership chops. Well, now is the time to unite all Republicans against the pending spending spree,” Biggs said. “Whip against the bill. Write a letter of commitment against the omnibus spender and ask each Republican in the House to co-sign. Hold a presser on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building with all Republican members. Enlist the conservative universe of influencers, many of whom he’s already asked to support his leadership campaign, to join the fight against the package of spending.”
The congressman added that if the bill passes, Republicans will lose 90% of their leverage against the current administration and force the House to pass bills that would not pass the Senate, which is governed by Democrats, or be signed by the White House.
“That’s not governance. That’s performance art,” Biggs said. “That’s why I’m challenging McCarthy’s bid for the speakership. My disagreements with McCarthy are rooted in my desire for a stronger, better Republican Party — one that prioritizes the needs of our voters, resists the pull of establishment influences, and is unified in both its ideological and political goals. That’s the kind of party that can set this nation back on the right track.”
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Biggs announced his renewed bid for the top leadership position in the House last week after failing to secure the votes for the position in the party’s internal votes in November. Biggs’s candidacy comes after disappointing midterm elections for the Republican Party, which failed to flip the Senate.
Biggs will now face McCarthy in a floor vote on Jan. 3, the first day of the new Congress.