Speaker Kevin McCarthy has heard similar advice from both a senior House Republican and an influential conservative lawyer prioritize the impeachment of President Joe Biden over a member of his Cabinet. Part of the thinking according to multiple sources familiar with the internal discussions is that if House Republicans are going to expend precious resources on the politically tricky task of an impeachment they might as well go after their highest target as opposed to the attorney general or secretary of homeland security. McCarthy signaled that Republicans have yet to verify the most salacious allegations against Biden namely that as vice president he engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national in order to benefit his son Hunter Bidens career an allegation the White House furiously denies. But he said that launching an impeachment inquiry would unleash the full power of the House to turn over critical information mirroring an argument advanced by House Democrats when they impeached thenPresident Donald Trump in . How do you get to the bottom of the truth The only way Congress can do that is go to an impeachment Inquiry McCarthy said Tuesday stopping short of formally moving to open such a probe. It all amounts to a consequential shift in thinking among Republican leaders who were previously reluctant to call for Bidens impeachment and have instead focused more energy on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Those were largely seen as lower stakes fights that could be easier to sell to the party and the public. But even with more Republicans coalescing around the idea impeachment would still be a complicated and time consuming endeavor given McCarthys razor thin majority and the need to fund the government by September . And theres anxiety about impeachment backfiring with the partys moderates while energizing the Democratic base all for an effort that is sure to be doomed in the Senate a similar concern shared by Democrats in when they launched their first impeachment into Trump ahead of the election proceedings that took about three months to complete in the House. Some on his farright who have threatened to boot him from the speakership if he strays from their demands are now praising his embrace of potential impeachment proceedings. In moving to potentially make Biden just the fourth president in US history to get impeached McCarthy could appease some of his sharpest critics in his conference especially as the House will have to cut a deal in the fall to keep the government funded and prevent a shutdown. If I had to pick one I would pick Biden said Rep. Andy Ogles a Tennessee Republican and member of the. House Freedom Caucus. The White House has maintained that Biden has had no involvement in his sons business deals and Republicans haveyet to link Biden directly to them. But some of the more hardline members of McCarthy conference said that if the GOP needs to settle on one target it should be Joe Biden. But Rep. Bob Good Virginia said he was reticent at first. But as weve continued to continue to amass evidence and information I think we should be doing a bare minimum at a minimum. I dont know how any reasonable person could come to the conclusion that this appears worthy of impeachment.
McCarthy’s sudden warming to a Biden impeachment inquiry is a sign of things to come.
