This probe has been months in the making.
The House is gearing up for yet another investigation — and this time, it centers on none other than the president himself.
On Tuesday, GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden, saying the allegations surrounding his family’s business dealings “paint a picture of a culture of corruption.”
“I do not make this decision lightly,” McCarthy said. “Regardless of your party, or who you voted for, these facts concern all Americans.”
The news didn’t exactly come as a surprise: House Republicans have been investigating the president ever since they gained a narrow majority in January, and the White House has already dismissed the effort as “extreme politics at its worst.”
As Republicans gear up for what’s sure to be a partisan fight, here’s what we know about the proceedings so far, and why not everyone’s on board with the idea.
Why did Republicans open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden?
Republicans have accused President Biden of profiting from the foreign business ventures of his son, Hunter Biden, while he served as vice president under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017.
House Speaker McCarthy said they’ve uncovered “serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct” involving his family’s alleged influence-peddling scheme. This includes testimony from former associate Devon Archer, who used to work with the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and claimed that Hunter put his dad on speakerphone in front of foreign business associates. (Biden has previously stated that he has never spoken to his son about his business.)
But so far, Republicans haven’t offered up any evidence directly showing that Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings in Ukraine (or anywhere else, for that matter). There’s also nothing to support McCarthy’s claims against his son. While Hunter Biden has been the subject of several investigations over the last few years, investigators haven’t turned up anything other than the fact that Hunter failed to pay his taxes in 2017 and 2018, which he has since paid. Following the collapse of a plea deal, he was also indicted on federal gun charges for allegedly lying about his drug use in order to obtain a handgun.
Both Republicans and Democrats remain skeptical about the impeachment inquiry. “There’s clearly corruption with Hunter using his dad’s name to earn tens of millions of dollars,” said GOP Rep. Don Bacon. “But impeachment needs to be about the dad, not the son. Many of us don’t want to see impeachment become something that is commonly used against every president.”
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign also put a statement slamming McCarthy for “doing Donald Trump’s bidding,” which is something even Trump himself has acknowledged. During an interview with former Fox and NBC host Megyn Kelly, the 45th president theorized that House Republicans were motivated by revenge.
“[Democrats] did it to me,” Trump told Kelly on SiriusXM radio. “And had they not done it to me, I think, and nobody officially said this, but I think had they not done it to me … perhaps you wouldn’t have it being done to them.”
Why is Speaker McCarthy launching an impeachment inquiry now?
Obviously, this impeachment inquiry didn’t come out of nowhere. For months, GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and other hardline conservatives part of the House Freedom Caucus have been pushing McCarthy to open an impeachment probe — or potentially be removed himself.
The stakes are even higher for McCarthy because of the looming federal government spending deadline. GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and others vowed not to vote for any funding until the House opened an inquiry into the president and time is ticking. The House returned from its recess on Tuesday, and they have until Sept. 30 to keep federal offices open. All signs indicate it’ll likely come down to the wire.
But McCarthy’s efforts to appease this small faction of House Republicans may not be enough. Gaetz doubled down on his threat of leadership change during a floor speech following the launch of the impeachment inquiry, calling it a “baby step.”
“I rise today to serve notice: Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role,” Gaetz said Tuesday. “The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate, total compliance or remove you pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair.”
What is an impeachment inquiry?
Now that we’ve discussed what Republicans are hoping to uncover, how will they actually pursue it?
An impeachment inquiry essentially gives congressional investigators greater legal authority to probe whether a sitting president — or any federal official, for that matter — committed impeachable offenses. As outlined by the U.S. Constitution, this includes treason, bribery, and “other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
As we saw with former President Trump’s impeachment trials, these inquiries also include public hearings and subpoenas for information and documents. When the inquiry’s over, the impeachment articles are prepared and must be approved by a majority of the committee. Then the House debates those articles of impeachment with a majority vote needed to pass each article.
After that, the Senate holds a trial on the articles of impeachment. Ultimately, this may lead to the president getting removed from office, but it’s a complicated process. While the House has the power to impeach a federal official, only the Senate can convict and remove them from office. (But since Democrats have the majority in the upper chamber, this is unlikely.)
So far, no president has ever been forced out of the White House, though some have come pretty close. For instance, former Republican President Richard Nixon voluntarily resigned in 1974, right as the House was preparing to vote on impeachment articles against him. Trump, on the other hand, was impeached twice, but he was acquitted both times by the Senate.
How is this impeachment process different?
Experts say that the House usually passes a resolution authorizing an inquiry. But since McCarthy appeared to lack support, he didn’t call for a formal House vote, bucking what has typically been the tradition.
Instead, McCarthy turned to House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, and House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith to lead the inquiry.
“This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather the full facts and answers for the American public,” McCarthy said on Tuesday. “That’s exactly what we want to know — the answers. I believe the president would want to answer these questions and allegations as well.”
As of right now, House Republicans likely don’t have the 218 votes needed to impeach President Biden, and many GOP members have said they haven’t seen enough evidence against Biden to support even an an impeachment inquiry.
“The bar for impeachment seems to get lower and lower every year,” said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski.
