Biden impeachment inquiry set for House vote next week

House Republicans on December 7 took a step toward formally authorizing an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden tied to his family’s business dealings.

The vote, which is expected next week, would require all House lawmakers to go on the record as supporting or opposing the impeachment probe conservative Republicans have been pursuing for months Bloomberg reports.

That move is something 18 Republicans representing areas Biden won in 2020 in New York, California and elsewhere could be reluctant to do. Speaker Mike Johnson has said he believes the vote is necessary, however, in part to counter arguments that the ongoing investigation is not legally legitimate.

Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan said earlier this week he expected his panel could begin formal hearings early next year.

The resolution, sponsored by Judiciary Committee member Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, calls on the Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means panels to determine “whether sufficient grounds exist” to impeach Biden, 81. The GOP-led panels have probed whether the president benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings or abused his office.

The resolution does not spell out any specific potential articles of impeachment.

White House spokesman Ian Sams panned the resolution as a “baseless stunt.”

“The American people are yet again going to see a clear contrast in priorities: President Biden who is focused on solving the challenges facing America and the world, and extreme House Republicans who only focus on stupid stunts to get attention for themselves,” he said in a statement.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries also blasted the move.

“Next week we are going to waste time on an illegitimate impeachment inquiry of President Biden,” he told reporters.

At least one House Republican, Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, has said he will vote against the resolution. Buck is retiring at the end of this Congress.

Johnson and his lieutenants can only absorb three GOP defections in order for the authorization vote to succeed, with Democrats likely to be unified against it.

Johnson, who has said he’s confident the resolution will pass, has blasted the White House for “stonewalling” the investigation by refusing to turn over key witnesses, and challenging subpoenas.

Sams responded this week that House Republicans have had access to 35,000 pages of financial records, 36 hours of witness interviews and more.

Republican leaders’ decision to move to a formal vote comes one day after they threatened to hold the president’s son, Hunter Biden, in contempt of Congress if he doesn’t show up for closed-door questioning by congressional investigators.

Hunter Biden, whose overseas business dealings are at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, has offered to testify publicly rather than appear under subpoena for a private Dec. 13 deposition, as he has been subpoenaed to do.

Republicans have countered that Hunter Biden’s demands amount to a “request for special treatment” and an attempt to “bully” Congress.