McCarthy Orders Impeachment Inquiry Into Biden

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced on Tuesday he’s given the go-ahead to top House Republicans to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Republicans have been trying to tie the president to the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, during Biden’s time as vice president. That said, Republicans admit they don’t have any evidence the president was involved in his son’s affairs. https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1701595972441448470 From the New York Times:

Mr. McCarthy said he would task three committees — Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means — with carrying out the inquiry into the president and his family as Republicans hunt for evidence of financial wrongdoing or corruption.

But Tuesday’s move was a break with the past and a major change in strategy for Mr. McCarthy, who previously indicated that he believed the full House should vote on whether to move forward with an impeachment inquiry.

Two presidential impeachment inquiries in modern history, of Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald J. Trump in 2019, were opened with a vote of the full House. 

The Times goes on to note that Trump’s second impeachment occurred without an inquiry following the events of the violent January 6, 2021, invasion of the U.S. Capitol building. The move comes as several far-right lawmakers have signaled they might seek to remove McCarthy as Speaker if he doesn’t bow to their agenda. Shortly after McCarthy’s announcement, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) gave a speech on the floor of the House basically threatening a daily “motion to vacate,” by which a single House member could trigger the process to remove McCarthy from his position. https://twitter.com/axios/status/1701659627375489293