Presidency of the US Chamber of Congress: Competition for Republican Kevin McCarthy in the House of Representatives

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Supporters of the ex-president: Republican Andy Biggs

PHOTO: BRIAN SNYDER / REUTERS

In the race for the presidency of the US House of Representatives, Republican faction leader Kevin McCarthy is faced with obstacles:

Republican MP Andy Biggs, of the party's right wing, announced he would challenge McCarthy in the plenary session of the House of Representatives.

He justified this with his opposition to the "establishment" for which McCarthy stands.

Biggs had already run against McCarthy in the party's nomination for the influential post.

McCarthy, 57, defeated Biggs by a vote of 188 to 31.

However, the presidency of the House of Representatives is decided by a vote of the entire chamber, and there McCarthy can hardly afford dissenters from his own ranks.

Since the Republicans won only a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the congressional elections at the beginning of November, a counter-candidate poses problems for McCarthy.

In the plenary election at the beginning of January, he must achieve a majority of 218 votes.

So McCarthy needs to get votes from both moderate Republicans and right-wing supporters of ex-President Donald Trump, like Biggs.

Successor to Nancy Pelosi

Whoever chairs the chamber is number three in the state ranking after the US president and his vice president.

So far, the office still lies with Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

After the congressional elections, she announced her withdrawal from the Democratic leadership team in the House of Representatives.

The Democrats then elected Hakeem Jeffries as their group leader, the first black person to do so.

dam/dpa