McCarthy passes first test in his bid for speaker. Now comes the hard part.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California easily defeated conservative Rep.
WASHINGTON — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California easily defeated conservative Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona on Tuesday to win the GOP nomination for speaker of the House.
That was the easy part.
The 188-31 closed-door, secret-ballot vote illustrates what his conservative foes have been saying for the past week: McCarthy hasn’t secured the 218 Republican votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel on the House floor on Jan. 3, the first day of the new Congress.
McCarthy now faces an uphill battle. He has seven weeks to try to win over some of the recalcitrant conservatives who cast protest votes for Biggs. Biggs, the former leader of the far-right, Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus, didn’t announce he would challenge McCarthy until Monday night.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., at a forum at FreedomWorks headquarters in Washington on Monday.Drew Angerer / Getty ImagesNBC News has not yet projected which party will control the House, although the NBC News Decision Desk estimates Republicans will end up with 220 seats and Democrats with 215, with a margin of error of plus or minus three seats.
Rating: 5