Members of the Republican Party's Freedom Caucus will run an alternative candidate to current US House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to take over as House Speaker following the Republicans' tentative majority in the lower chamber of Congress after the midterm elections, Fox News reported on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2022) Members of the Republican Party's Freedom Caucus will run an alternative candidate to current US House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to take over as House Speaker following the Republicans' tentative majority in the lower chamber of Congress after the midterm elections, Fox news reported on Monday.
Republicans are slated to win control of the House of Representatives from Democrats once midterm election results are finalized, while Democrats secured their control of the Senate with wins in Arizona and Nevada over the weekend.
With Republicans holding a prospective majority in the lower chamber, they will also appoint a Speaker of the House of Representatives to replace Nancy Pelosi. Being the minority leader, McCarthy was the favorite to hold the position.
However, the Republican Party's House Freedom Caucus plans to run an alternative candidate to McCarthy either during a party conference meeting on Tuesday or once the new Congress starts in January, the report said.
A spokesman for Congressman Andy Biggs, former Freedom Caucus chair, said that McCarthy does not have the 218 votes necessary to become House Speaker and there will be an alternative challenger, the report said.
Biggs is considering a run against McCarthy, the report added, citing several top Republican aides.
On Tuesday, Republicans are scheduled to elect a Conference Speaker-Designee - an indicator of who may become the House Speaker.
While Republicans are projected to win a majority in the House of Representatives, the margins could be slim enough that even several defectors could withhold the needed votes from McCarthy.
All eyes are on the conference vote because that will be the first sign of how strong or vulnerable McCarthy is at present, the report cited a senior Republican leadership aide as saying.
The Freedom Caucus, which has dozens of seats in the House Republican Conference, is composed of members considered to be on the conservative and libertarian ends of the party spectrum.
The group is seeking to restore the power to remove a speaker by a vote that could be called at any time, ensuring floor votes on amendments with at least 10% of the party as cosponsors and implementing a "majority of the majority" rule to only advance bills supported by most party members, the report said.
The Freedom Caucus is also seeking to allow committees to elect their own chair instead of the party's steering committee, the report added.
