Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday he was ordering House Republicans to move ahead with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
“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. He did not take questions from reporters.
McCarthy previously indicated there would be a full House vote for an impeachment inquiry, as has happened in the past, but as of Tuesday he didn’t appear to have the votes to open one, even though a floor vote could still happen.
He has signaled a Biden impeachment inquiry for weeks, in part to placate GOP hard-liners, and in order 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 on 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.
House Republicans have been investigating for months alleged ties implicating Biden in his son’s business dealings but have so fa have not been able 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 added. “Regardless of your party, or who you voted for, these facts concern all Americans.”
Sources familiar previously told ABC News GOP Rep. Ken Buck, a holdout who has expressed skepticism about an impeachment inquiry, would receive a briefing from House Oversight Committee staff this week on the investigations into President Biden.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announces an impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Joe Biden to members of the news media outside his office at the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 12, 2023, in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
White House spokesperson Ian Sams responded 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, the platform formally known as Twitter.
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 returns from recess on Tuesday with a fast-approaching 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.
But members of the House Freedom Caucus — the same group that held up McCarthy’s ascension to the speakership and opposed his debt limit deal with President Biden — have said they would not support a continuing resolution unless it includes certain language on border security and “weaponization of the DOJ.” The group is also opposed to further aid to Ukraine, potentially putting the House at odds with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Amid the tension, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has publicly threatened to bring a motion to vacate against McCarthy. The motion would force a vote on whether McCarthy should continue on as speaker. McCarthy brushed off the threat while speaking to reporters on Monday evening, saying Gaetz “should go ahead and do it… Matt’s, Matt.”
Gaetz only doubled down on the warning during a floor speech Tuesday shortly after McCarthy’s announcement regarding impeachment.
“Moments ago, McCarthy endorsed an impeachment inquiry. This is a baby step following weeks of pressure from House conservatives to do more,” Gaetz said.
