The House will vote the week of December 10 on formalizing the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden to strengthen subpoena power over the stonewalling Biden administration, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) stated during a Tuesday press conference.
The vote will be a test for House Republicans, who hold a slight majority over House Democrats. The measure will need nearly all Republican support.
- Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) opened an “impeachment inquiry” on September 12, but lawmakers did not vote to approve the measure.
- If the impeachment inquiry receives majority support on the House floor, the inquiry will be formally adopted, a status that Johnson says will help the House’s inquiry obtain information blocked by the White House.
“The House has no choice if it’s going to follow its constitutional responsibility to formally adopt an impeachment inquiry on the floor so that when the subpoenas are challenged in court, we will be at the apex of our constitutional authority,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the Republican majority should hold strong to formalize the inquiry because it is a legal decision, not a political one.
“All the moderates in our conference understand this is not a political decision,” he told reporters. “This is a legal decision. This is a constitutional decision. And whether someone is for or against impeachment is of no import right now.”
“We have to continue our legal responsibility, and that is solely what this vote is about,” he added.
In preparation for the vote, the House Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight Committees jointly released an interim 78-page staff report on Tuesday about the Justice Department’s (DOJ) “deviations” in the five-year investigation into Hunter Biden, describing political interference in the probe.
Some House Republicans believe the Biden administration’s alleged political interference in the probe is a key point for lawmakers to consider before the formalized impeachment inquiry vote in preparation for potentially pursuing articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden.
The House launched its investigation into Joe Biden in November 2021. Uncovered evidence against him can be found here, here, and here.
