A group of conservative hardliners in the House of Representatives on Thursday prompted their more moderate colleagues to engage in a bitter discussion about whether to impeach Vice President Joe Biden. They have done this before, and they will do it again.
Despite being spearheaded by Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert and going against the views of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, this initial movement quickly petered away. Republicans, including Boebert, voted unanimously to send the impeachment inquiry into Vice President Biden back to the committees dominated by their party.
Boebert and her conservative friends say they were successful in drawing attention to what they call Biden’s “dereliction” and “gross neglect” of border security issues at the national level.
During Thursday’s freewheeling floor debate, which ranged from Biden’s messy Afghanistan departure to former President Donald Trump and the Capitol brawl, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) stated, “We need to remove Joe Biden from the Oval Office and ensure that Americans are safe.”
In the short term, McCarthy was successful in diverting attention away from the recent move by the conservatives in his party, which had exposed deep divisions inside the conference. But the real trouble is yet to come: by sending impeachment to committees in an effort to placate hardliners, he is merely increasing the pressure on the numerous Republican panel chairs trying to establish legitimate examinations of the Biden administration.
Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.), a favourite of conservatives, will be in the spotlight as he eventually presents findings on Biden’s border policy to all House Republicans.
Biden isn’t the only one who will be a target of Boebert and the others who want to utilise their authority to bring impeachment back to the floor, so he might not have time to finish. Just one day prior, conservative Republicans used a similarly swift strategy to publicly chastise California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff for his past participation leading congressional probes against Trump.
McCarthy is stopping Republican hardliners from trying again by convincing them that now is not the time for an impeachment floor vote.
Since we’ve already had some referred, I’m not sure we need any more. McCarthy claimed that inquiries were already underway.
Until Green makes a decision on whether or not to recommend the border investigation to the Judiciary Committee, which would lead any impeachment push, the investigation, which has so far centred on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, is anticipated to continue well into the fall.
And Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said he was sticking to his original plans despite Thursday’s vote on the Boebert proposal. “No, look, we’ve got a major probe going on over in Oversight. We’ll look at everything once Mr. Comer finishes his investigation. (Comer is in charge of the Republicans’ wide-ranging investigation into the Bidens in search of a tenuous connection to the president.)
Boebert’s approach was reminiscent of Democratic impeachment proceedings against then-President Trump, thus sending the resolutions to the committee is an attempt to soothe frustrations among House Republican centrists.
If there are legitimate grounds for impeachment, the matter should be sent to the Judiciary or Oversight Committee. Unfortunately, this is a bad idea. Representative Don Bacon (R-Neb.) of the Republican Party in the Biden district remarked, “I think the majority of the conference feels that way” about Boebert’s decision.
This week’s conservative push focused squarely on what its proponents see as the administration’s shortcomings along the southern border under Vice President Joe Biden. However, as Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) pointed out on the floor, the GOP was investigating a wide range of other issues, such as the White House’s energy policy and the “Biden crime family syndicate.”
In addition, he emphasised that “What we’re talking about here is, indeed, solemn.”
After the Democratic House impeached Trump twice, Republicans are keen to see Biden and his Cabinet officials impeached as well.
Meanwhile, Democrats view the Republican attempt to bring divisive issues to the House floor as an opportunity to regain power in their own right in 2024.
“We’re in the week of the anniversary of the Dobbs decision that has taken away freedom and rights from women and families across this country,” said House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, referring to the Supreme Court’s overturn of the nationwide right to an abortion as once enshrined in Roe v. Wade.
As for the GOP’s response, she said, “more extremism” – a reference to the movement to impeach the president.
A focus on impeachment, according to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, would “backfire.”
According to Jeffries, “all it will do is highlight that they have no plan, no vision, and no agenda.”
