On Friday, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) announced that he would never support Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for Speaker of the House — and that he does not believe he can "ever" get the votes to get the gavel.
"I've seen enough," wrote Biggs on Twitter. "I cannot vote for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. I do not believe he will ever get to 218 votes, and I refuse to assist him in his effort to get those votes."
This comes after a similar proclamation by far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who also has stated he doesn't believe McCarthy has the floor votes.
Biggs, a prominent member of the extremist House Freedom Caucus, has been trying to wrangle the votes to run for Speaker himself — but according to Fox News, even the Freedom Caucus itself is divided between him and McCarthy.
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"Despite chairing the group from 2019 to earlier this year, Biggs has a difficult path to convincing the caucus' more than two dozen members to line up behind his effort to defeat McCarthy," reported Harris Alic. "Several high-profile members of the Freedom Caucus are actively backing McCarthy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told reporters that the minority leader had earned her trust and no other public candidate was acceptable to the entire GOP conference."
McCarthy, who was originally passed over in favor of former Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) the last time the GOP Speakership was up for grabs in 2015, has long sought the top House post. But while the 2022 midterm elections gave Republicans a House majority, they find themselves with a much narrower majority than they expected, giving McCarthy almost no votes to spare in a leadership fight.