Senate Republicans had mixed initial reactions to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
McCarthy announced the inquiry on Tuesday morning, calling the move the “logical next step” in House Republicans’ investigation into allegations of influence-peddling by the Biden family. While Democrats in both chambers were quick to condemn the effort, Republicans in the Senate were split on the inquiry itself and the idea of a potential trial.
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Some GOP senators sympathized with McCarthy’s need to placate the conservative wing of his conference, who have threatened to turn against the House speaker should he not either move forward with impeachment or support their push for a government shutdown next month.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) acknowledged that McCarthy is “under a lot of pressure over there” in the House but said he was focused on winning elections and passing spending bills.
“I don’t think it’d be advantageous if this thing went further with all the other things we have to do,” Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters of impeachment.
When pressed by the Washington Examiner later Tuesday, however, Thune noted that House investigators “need to go where the facts lead them.”
“We suspected he might do that because it does give him … the ability to gather additional information,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner of McCarthy’s impeachment move. “It also gives him one more step in keeping folks with him in the process to get the other things done that the House needs to get done.”
Rounds noted that McCarthy has to keep his fractious conference together through the upcoming battles over appropriations, the National Defense Authorization Act, and the farm bill.
Others welcomed the news as a necessary step in order to get answers on Biden’s involvement in his family’s business dealings. That support does not necessarily translate into a vote to convict should impeachment articles be sent to the Senate, though many GOP senators expressed dismay at the House’s allegations against Biden.
“Look, there are credible accusations that Joe Biden accepted bribes in exchange for government favors,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) told the Washington Examiner. “If those accusations are true, he should certainly be impeached, so I think it’s totally reasonable for the House to open the inquiry.”
Asked if an impeachment could distract from the GOP’s messaging in the 2024 campaign cycle, Vance responded, “People are smart, and they can hold two thoughts in their head at one time. We can make an argument that the Biden economy is bad for working people, which it is, while also saying that maybe it’s not OK to have a president just accepting bribes.”
Senate GOP Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) was the only member of Republican leadership to fully embrace McCarthy’s move, saying, “The House of Representatives has done an excellent job trying to uncover the tangled web of corruption that we’ve seen coming out of the Biden administration and specifically the Biden family. Clearly there are facts that need further investigation. The House is headed in the right direction.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) said in a statement, “There are very serious allegations about Joe Biden’s involvement with Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, and the facts uncovered so far are concerning to say the least – the American people deserve answers, and they deserve them now. I support bringing everything to light for all to see. It’s far past time to get the full truth.”
Several members, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), declined to answer questions on the matter altogether, while some expressed dismay at the House’s antics.
“The House is going to do what the House is going to do,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of GOP leadership who has expressed weariness at the idea of a third presidential impeachment in under four years, declined to condemn McCarthy’s decision. If House Republicans want to “head down that path,” Cornyn said, “I think they are gonna want to do their homework, and that sounds to me like what the speaker is advocating.”
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The inquiry will be led jointly by the chairmen of the Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees in the Republican-led House. Should GOP lawmakers coalesce around the eventual impeachment articles, Biden’s fate will be left to the Senate, where Democrats control the body by a slight 51-49 margin.
Given that no Democrats support the investigation, including critical swing votes, the impeachment effort is all but certain to fail once it reaches the upper chamber. Even delivering articles to the Senate will prove to be a challenge for House Republicans, where McCarthy has failed to convince the entire conference to back the inquiry.
