House GOP tees up impeachment inquiry vote before holiday recess
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Rep. James Comer. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images.
The House is poised to vote on authorizing an impeachment inquiry into President Biden before departing for their scheduled holiday recess next week.
Why it matters: Republicans hope that a formal vote on the House floor will strengthen them in coming legal battles to force testimony from Hunter Biden and other figures in the president's orbit.
- The impeachment inquiry resolution is accompanied by a measure authorizing subpoenas from a trio of committees spearheading the investigation into the Biden family's finances.
Driving the news: The House Rules Committee is set to meet next Tuesday to mark up the 14-page resolution, introduced by Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), the first step towards a vote on the House floor.
- The resolution directs the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways & Means committees to "continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist" to impeach Biden.
What they're saying: "The White House and multiple witnesses have repeatedly refused to cooperate with the investigation and have rejected subpoenas," Armstrong said in a statement.
- "A vote on an impeachment inquiry puts the House in the best position to prevail in court and uncover the truth."
The other side: Trump "has been impeached twice," House Oversight Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters, "so they need to … set up an impeachment probe of a president of the opposite party without any evidence at all."
- "We're still waiting for them to define the offense they think Joe Biden is guilty of," Raskin added.
The backdrop: The House Oversight Committee and Hunter Biden are locked in a stalemate over the panel's subpoena demanding he sit for a closed-door deposition.
- Hunter Biden's lawyers countered by offering to have him testify publicly to the committee.
- Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) has threatened to initiate contempt of Congress proceedings in response.
- Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) has dug in his heels against impeachment, but many Biden-district Republicans who are skeptical of impeaching Biden have indicated they support moving forward with the inquiry.
