House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) confirmed that he will not skip a floor vote to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden as Republicans push to expedite the process.
“To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives,” McCarthy told Breitbart in an interview on Friday. “That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.”
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There are currently six pending impeachment resolutions against Biden from House Republicans. Recently, growing talks of opening an inquiry in September have circulated after GOP members accused Biden of refusing to hand over documents requested in the investigation into the Biden family’s foreign business dealings.
Several reports this week questioned whether or not McCarthy would follow traditional impeachment proceedings when it came to Biden. There is no rule in the Constitution that requires a floor vote to start an impeachment inquiry. Therefore, Republicans could have introduced an article of impeachment directly on the floor without the House Judiciary Committee reporting the resolution and the House voting on opening an inquiry. However, McCarthy said that the traditional process will be followed.
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The only time the floor vote to open an inquiry was skipped was by House Democrats in 2021, who moved to charge former President Donald Trump with inciting an insurrection at the Capitol. Democrats in the House did introduce an impeachment inquiry during his first impeachment in 2019, both of which the Senate acquitted him of.
If acted on, House Republicans will need 218 votes to move the impeachment trial to the Senate, and it would require a two-thirds vote in the upper chamber to remove Biden, as outlined in the Constitution.
