House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is threatening to move forward with a bogus, evidence-free impeachment inquiry – without a vote on the House floor – as soon as next month.
MAGA Republicans just want to even the political score as Donald Trump gets in more and more legal hot water – even though it puts most vulnerable swing district Republicans in a political vise and many remain skeptical as a result. They know the MAGA House GOP still hasn’t passed a single bill into law to address the issues that are top priorities for voters across the country like inflation, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, or the high cost of college. Instead of focusing on real priorities for American families, the MAGA House only continues to use their congressional majority to defend Donald Trump and tarnish President Biden at all costs.
CNN: McCarthy Starts To Plot Biden Impeachment Strategy While GOP Skeptics Remain. “But leadership recognizes that the entire House Republican conference is not yet sold on the politically risky idea of impeachment. That’s why one of the biggest lingering questions – and something Republicans have been discussing in recent weeks – is whether they would need to hold a floor vote to formally authorize their inquiry, sources say. There is no constitutional requirement that they do so, and Republicans do not currently have the 218 votes needed to open an impeachment inquiry. Skipping the formal vote, which would be a tough one for many of the party’s more vulnerable and moderate members, would allow Republicans to get the ball rolling on an inquiry while giving leadership more time to convince the rest of the conference to get on board with impeachment. […] And one GOP lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak more freely, offered an even blunter assessment: ‘There’s no evidence that Joe Biden got money, or that Joe Biden, you know, agreed to do something so that Hunter could get money. There’s just no evidence of that. And they can’t impeach without that evidence. And I don’t I don’t think the evidence exists.’” [CNN, 8/28/23]
The Independent: McCarthy Has To Choose Between His House Majority And Trump On Biden’s Impeachment. “During his 15-round duel with the most right-wing factions of his conference to become speaker, Kevin McCarthy received a life raft from former president Donald Trump. […] As always, Mr McCarthy is trying to please multiple masters. While the primary job of the speaker is to lead Congress, he’s also the highest ranking Republican in Congress and therefore, has to also focus on protecting and expanding his majority. But with only a 10-seat majority and only four votes more than the requisite 218 to pass anything through Congress, he has to please both the frontline Republicans and also keep the hard-right members of his conference to whom he had to make a series of promises to become speaker. […] All of this puts Mr McCarthy into a bind. He has to protect his members and ensure they do not take too many tough votes that could risk the GOP’s majority. But the man Mr Trump supposedly calls ‘My Kevin’ also owes an immense debt to the former president and if doesn’t pay his bill, Mr Trump could take Mr McCarthy’s speaker’s gavel as collateral.” [The Independent, 8/28/23]
The Hill: House Republicans Barrel Toward Biden Impeachment Inquiry — But Some Hesitate. “Other GOP lawmakers, however, say they are not ready to take the plunge. ‘I think before we move on to [an] impeachment inquiry, we should … there should be a direct link to the president in some evidence,’ Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told The Hill in an interview. ‘We should have some clear evidence of a high crime or misdemeanor, not just assuming there may be one. I think we need to have more concrete evidence to go down that path.’ While the impeachment train has not yet left the station, the engines are fired up. […] Bacon said McCarthy, before the August recess, told GOP lawmakers during a conference meeting he was opposed to an impeachment inquiry and needed more direct evidence pointing to the president before launching an investigation. The moderate Republican now wants to know what changed in McCarthy’s perspective. ‘I think it’s gonna be something he’s gonna have to sell us on,’ Bacon said of opening an inquiry. ‘Because when we … before we went on break, he said he was opposed to an inquiry.’ ‘So I just want to know, he’s gonna have to make the case exactly what switched,’ he added.” [The Hill, 8/27/23]
The Messenger: GOP’s Summer of Reckoning: To Impeach or Not to Impeach. “Their razor-thin majority and competing factions within the conference have made it hard for House Republicans to chart a coherent impeachment blueprint. […] ‘They can talk about it,’ former Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia said of the impeachment bluster. ‘But as long as you’ve got five nervous Republicans, that’s not going anywhere,‘ the GOP oversight alumnus turned partner at global law firm Holland & Knight told The Messenger in an interview, urging House Speaker Kevin McCarthy not to test the limits of his mercurial four-seat majority.” [The Messenger, 8/20/23]