Prior to the House passing the legislation, only four Republicans had joined all Democrats in signing a petition to force a vote – Thomas Massie, Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
But it achieved overwhelming Republican support after President Trump dropped his opposition to a vote.
Higgins has represented Louisiana’s third district since 2017 and is widely regarded as one of the most conservative members of Congress, according to his website.
His holdout vote in the wake of 200-plus members of his party voting otherwise is not the first time he has taken an unorthodox stance.
In 2024, House Republicans voted to censure Higgins for offensive remarks he made on social media after he called Haiti “the nastiest country in the western hemisphere” and referred to Haitians as “eating pets” and “slapstick gangsters”.
“All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th,” Higgins wrote.
Facebook removed two posts from Higgins in 2020, after he wrote he would “drop any 10 of you where you stand”, referring to any armed protesters that might attend a Louisiana demonstration against police brutality.
Facebook told Business Insider at the time the posts “were removed for violating our policies against inciting violence”.
Before Congress, Higgins was a member of Louisiana’s St Landry’s Parish Sheriff’s Office. He resigned in 2016 amid backlash about a controversial anti-crime video where he was seen holding a rifle and making threats against gang members.
The BBC has contacted Higgins’s office for comment.
