The Republican Party, also known as the GOP (“Grand Old Party”), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States.
By TN Ashok in Washington
Kevin McCarthy, Republican speaker of the House , announced an impeachment inquiry by his party, that holds the majority in the Congress House of Reps 222-213, into US President Joe Biden, mainly pertaining to his Hunter Biden’s business dealings overseas.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday he was ordering House Republicans to move ahead with the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden even without a majority vote, the usual practice in such cases, under pressure from fellow republicans , media reports said. “Today, I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” McCarthy said at the U.S. Capitol in a short formal statement and avoided questions from reporters.
McCarthy had previously indicated there would be a full House vote for an impeachment inquiry, as experienced in the past, but today he didn’t appear to have the votes to open one. A spokesperson for McCarthy told ABC News that McCarthy was not expected to hold a vote to launch the impeachment inquiry.
Kevin McCarthy had indicated an Biden impeachment inquiry for weeks as part of his measure to placate GOP hard-liners, and to obtain bank records and other documents from Biden and his son, Hunter. “This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather the full facts and answers for the American public,” he said Tuesday. “That’s exactly what we want to know — the answers. I believe the president would want to answer these questions and allegations as well.”
McCarthy said House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith will lead the inquiry. For months, House Republicans have doggedly pursued investigations to find alleged ties tying Hunter with a company in Ukraine called Burisma , an energy company alleged to have paid bribes to secure contracts.
So far the Republicans have drawn a blank to prove any wrongdoing by the president. McCarthy said House Republicans, during the August recess, uncovered “serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.”
“I do not make this decision lightly,” Speaker McCarthy said, adding , “Regardless of your party, or who you voted for, these facts concern all Americans.”
House spokesperson Ian Sams responded sharply to McCarthy’s call for a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden. “House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing His own GOP members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support. Extreme politics at its worst,” Sams wrote on X, erstwhile Twitter.
Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell shot back at McCarthy saying he has shown he will do anything to hold on to his gavel” including launch an impeachment inquiry “based on repackaged, inaccurate conspiracies about Hunter Biden and his legitimate business activities.”McCarthy told reporters that opening an impeachment inquiry allows House committees to get more information.
Former President Donald Trump has privately discussed an impeachment inquiry into President Biden with House Republicans, sources told ABC. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of Republican leadership, spoke to former President Trump Tuesday afternoon and updated him on the impeachment inquiry, sources in the know said.
Senate Republicans will be briefed by Reps. Jordan and Comer at a luncheon Wednesday. The briefing will be the first pointer to any evidence Jordan and Comer say they’ve uncovered, and could be important for senators who demanded more information on what the House has uncovered before they can decide whether or not to back the actions, media reports said. .
In a statement, Comer, Jordan and Smith said they support the impeachment inquiry. Sen. Mitt Romney, one of seven Senate Republicans, who voted in 2021 to remove former President Donald Trump from office over his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, endorsed the use of an impeachment inquiry to gain more access to information regarding Biden’s business dealings.
“An inquiry is an inquiry, it’s not an impeachment,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings for years, said. And it seems to me it will open up an avenue to get a lot of information that we feel we’ve been stonewalled on .
The announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry comes as McCarthy looks to stave off a possible revolt from conservative hard-liners and avoid a government shutdown. The House resumed its session from a summer recess Tuesday with an impending Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending measure to keep the government open. House Republican leaders are looking to pass a continuing resolution, or a short-term funding extension, to buy more time to hammer out the details of a broader appropriations package.