House Republicans are going all-in on President Joe Biden’s impeachment, with a nearly unanimous House GOP gambling Wednesday that voters will reward and not punish their impeachment inquiry into the president despite a yearslong investigation that has, thus far, not delivered any real evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors.
By a straight party-line vote of 221-212, Republicans formalized the effort to unearth—so far unsubstantiated—impeachable links between Biden and the shady business dealings of his son, Hunter.
The vote marks a shift for centrist Republicans who reportedly squirmed earlier this year at having to go on the record with the Biden impeachment inquiry vote under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The since-deposed speaker weaseled his way around that dilemma by initiating an impeachment inquiry without subjecting his vulnerable colleagues to an uncomfortable floor vote.
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But under new Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), the House charged ahead with a floor vote shepherded by the chairmen of the Oversight Committee, the Judiciary panel, and Ways and Means—James Comer (R-KY), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Jason Smith (R-MO), respectively.
Biden-district Republicans appeared to have stomached the vote by rationalizing the inquiry as just another step on the quest for more information, not an indictment of the president himself.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), for example, told Fox News Tuesday that, although he was opposed this summer, he has since decided to embrace the inquiry, noting that the White House told Congress in November that the current effort lacked constitutional legitimacy without a formal vote.
“It’s not an impeachment,” Bacon insisted. “It’s an investigation.”
Other frontline Republicans also pointed to that letter from White House special counsel Dick Sauber as influencing their position on making the inquiry official.
Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) told The Daily Beast that “the administration asked for this.”
“They sent a letter saying we're not going to cooperate with you, unless you have the authority,” Schweikert said.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)—co-chairman of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and one of the most moderate Republicans in Congress—also endorsed that reasoning. “The administration's basically forcing us to vote on this,” he said.
Another self-proclaimed moderate, Rep. John Duarte (R-CA), told CNN he is “very comfortable” with the inquiry.
And Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) said she thinks the House should be focused on “the priorities that we had coming into this Congress.” But the impeachment inquiry apparently wasn’t enough of a distraction from those issues to warrant a no vote.
“I have said before and I’ll say again, I believe the American people deserve the right to have answers to questions,” she said.
While vulnerable Republicans attempted to cling to the ‘just asking questions’ mantra, Democrats immediately signaled their intention to paint Republicans with a broad brush.
“If House Republicans took the time to look at their local newspaper, they would know that the public isn’t interested in wasting any more time on a sham impeachment,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton said in a statement.
“The American people want results on the kitchen table issues that matter to their day-to-day lives—not MAGA Republicans’ obsession with Donald Trump’s reckless revenge quest,” he added.
But Republicans don’t appear overly worried about electoral repercussions from the impeachment inquiry vote.
“Democrats want to make lots of things issues,” Schweikert said. “It's fascinating.”
Another vulnerable Republican, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said McCarthy moved forward with an impeachment inquiry in the same manner as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R-CA)—without a formal vote.
“And the White House has chosen to use the same tactic that the prior administration did when it came to that form of inquiry—stone-walling and refusing to respond to subpoenas,” Lawler said.
In an effort to somehow get even with Biden, Trump has insisted House Republicans—most of whom still take marching orders from the former president—pursue impeachment.
In an unhinged Truth Social rampage in August, Trump threatened the House GOP to “either IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION.”
“THEY DID IT TO US!” Trump rationalized.
Plenty of extreme MAGA Republicans are parroting Trump’s talking point. Asked by Rolling Stone what he hopes to gain from an impeachment inquiry, ultraconservative Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) responded that “all I can say is Donald J. Trump 2024 baby.”
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are openly skeptical of the House’s course of action. The Senate’s top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), said Wednesday that he has “no evidence” that “the president is guilty of anything.”
The House vote wrapped up a raucous day on Capitol Hill, kicked off by a surprise appearance by Hunter Biden himself.
Flouting a subpoena to provide closed-door testimony for the impeachment investigation and incensing Republican lawmakers, the Biden son held a press conference in front of the Capitol Building instead offering to appear for public questioning.
“I’m here today to make sure that the House committee’s illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on distortions, manipulated evidence, and lies,” Biden told reporters.
Meanwhile, later Wednesday, President Biden issued a long statement on the “baseless House Republican impeachment stunt.”
Biden said the American people “need their leaders in Congress to take action on important priorities for the nation and world,” name checking Ukraine aid, Israel, the southern border, and government funding as priorities that Congress needs to address.
“There is a lot of work to be done,” Biden said in the statement. “But after wasting weeks trying to find a new Speaker of the House and having to expel their own members, Republicans in Congress are leaving for a month without doing anything to address these pressing challenges.”
“The American people deserve better,” he added. “I know what I am going to remain focused on. I would invite Republicans in Congress to join me.”
