McCarthy Will Endorse Impeachment Inquiry Into Joe Biden, Reports ...

12 Sep 2023

Forbes

Topline

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will formally back an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden this week, according to multiple reports—a move that comes as McCarthy wrangles right-wing Republicans to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown, including some who are threatening to seek his removal as leader without an impeachment vote.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, speaks to the press, as he meets with ... [+] Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on July 27, 2023. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images Key Facts

McCarthy is expected to tell House GOP leaders he supports an impeachment inquiry, the first formal step toward filing articles of impeachment, during a closed-door meeting Thursday, Punchbowl was the first to report Tuesday.

The speaker will tell leadership that House committees have uncovered enough evidence in their investigations into whether Biden used his influence to financially benefit Hunter Biden and other family members to open an official impeachment investigation, according to Punchbowl.

The move comes as McCarthy has indicated in recent weeks he is warming to the idea of impeaching Biden, telling CNN in July an impeachment inquiry may be the best tool to facilitate House investigations into Biden and his family members.

The House voted along party lines in June to send a resolution brought by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) to impeach Biden to the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees, a move that prevented impeachment proceedings from starting immediately but set the stage for an inquiry.

The legislation accuses Biden of dereliction of duty and abuse of power, citing border policies hard-right members say have led to an increase in illegal immigration.

McCarthy is expected to announce plans to bring impeachment inquiry legislation to the floor by the end of September, according to CNN, citing sources.

What We Don’t Know

Whether the impeachment inquiry will actually lead to the House filing articles of impeachment against Biden. The House could skip the impeachment inquiry process by moving directly to a vote to bring articles of impeachment, but McCarthy is expected to first call for a formal vote on an inquiry that would be led by the House committees. The House has the authority to kickstart the impeachment process, but if Biden is impeached, the Democratic-controlled Senate would then need to conduct a trial to remove Biden from office—a move that requires a two-thirds vote.

Key Background

While Boebert’s impeachment resolution cites Biden’s border policies, the renewed impeachment push is expected to center around the House’s various investigations into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, though they have yet to produce evidence the president engaged in any illegal conduct. Boebert introduced her legislation hours after the Justice Department announced a now-defunct plea deal with Hunter Biden that would have likely resulted in probation for pleading guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and allowed him to evade a felony gun charge by entering a diversion program—an ordeal unrelated to his father. The deal unraveled in court in July when the two sides could not come to an agreement about future immunity. A coalition of hard-right Republicans blasted the agreement as a sweetheart deal and used it as an example of their claims that the Justice Department is doing the president’s bidding by prosecuting former President Trump, but being lenient on the younger Biden.

Tangent

McCarthy’s impeachment endorsement comes as members of the House Freedom Caucus have threatened to vote against a fiscal year 2024 budget if it does not meet a string of demands that the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House would be hard-pressed to agree to, a scenario that sets the stage for a potential government shutdown at the end of September, when the current fiscal year expires. Among their demands laid out in a memo unveiled last week, the group of right-wing members wants the budget to limit funding for Ukraine, cut spending to fiscal year 2022 levels and address what they claim is a “weaponization” of the Justice Department and FBI. At least one member of the far right, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), has said she would vote against a budget if the House does not impeach Biden.

Contra

Some House Republicans have said they are against impeaching Biden, indicating the GOP, which holds a 222-213 majority in the House, may not have the 218 votes it needs to pass impeachment inquiry legislation. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) called Greene’s demand “absurd” in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday, adding that evidence linking him “to a high crime or misdemeanor . . . doesn’t exist right now.” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) has also indicated he is skeptical about the merits of impeachment, telling The Hill last month “I think we need to have more concrete evidence to go down that path.”

What To Watch For

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is expected to threaten McCarthy’s ouster if he does not support an impeachment inquiry during a speech on the House floor Tuesday, the New York Times reported. Just one member can kickstart the process for removing McCarthy by bringing a “motion to vacate,” a new rule McCarthy agreed to as part of an agreement to win over far-right holdovers in the January speaker election.