House Votes to Open Impeachment Inquiry into Joe Biden

The House voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Wednesday, as the GOP zeroes in on a key priority heading into 2024.

In a 221- 212 vote along party lines, House Republicans voted to formalize the investigation, which gives their committees more legal authority as they seek to gain key testimony and compliance with subpoenas issued in recent weeks.

The vote marks a new phase for House investigators after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced in September that he would direct the committee leaders to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden. But since then, the White House has pushed back, calling the legal standing of the inquiry that was until now ordered unilaterally into question.

“The inquiry is now at an inflection point. The three committees are nearing the end of their investigations and the White House has chosen this moment to stonewall and resist the legitimate investigative powers of the House,” Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican said ahead of the vote. “And so we are taking up today’s resolution which will formalize all impeachment inquiry that has already begun.”

So far, the ongoing investigation has failed to turn up evidence to further Republican impeachment efforts. Still, GOP members say their discoveries reveal an “influence peddling” scheme by Biden’s family members that warrants further investigation.

“The Democrats would have us simply turn a blind eye to mounting evidence of a family influence-peddling scheme that implicates the president. This we cannot do,” Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican, said. “We owe it to the country to get to the bottom of these allegations and that requires the House to objectively invoke its full investigatory powers, respect the due process rights for all involved and lay all of the facts before the American people.”

The president’s son, Hunter Biden, is at the center of the investigation. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer subpoenaed for testimony earlier this month. But the attempt to compel the closed-door deposition has so far been in vain as the younger Biden’ has defied the subpoena to testify privately, while offering to do so in a public forum.

The vote came after a dramatic showdown on Wednesday morning, when the younger Biden appeared outside the Capitol, delivering a scathing rebuke of the investigation into his business dealings and impeachment inquiry into his father before rejecting demands that he appear privately before a House panel for closed-door testimony. The GOP investigators pledged to initiate contempt proceedings against him.

“I’m here today to make sure that the House committees’ illegitimate investigations of my family do not proceed on extortions, manipulated evidence and lies,” Biden said, specifying that he came to testify at a public hearing.

Rep. Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Democrats, quipped during debate over the resolution that “members should be advised that Joe Biden, not Hunter Biden, is president of the United States,” while Democrats more broadly derided the impeachment inquiry as an “extreme political stunt” pushed by former President Donald Trump.

“This has never been about the truth,” Minority Whip Katherine Clark said. “This is about avenging Donald Trump. This is about undermining our democracy and influencing the 2024 election.”

Just months ago, McCarthy had unilaterally ordered the impeachment inquiry as a chamber-wide vote appeared treacherous, putting vulnerable Republicans in swing districts that Biden won in the last election in a difficult position that could threaten their reelection prospects. But the bulk of those lawmakers fell in line with the conference on Wednesday.

“I wonder how my colleagues in New York and California who were sent here to make life better for the American people explain this vote,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.