Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters outside his office at the Capitol in Washington, July 25, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
To impeach or not to impeach? That is the question for US House Republicans when Congress returns from its summer recess.
However, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, is facing a few reluctant moderates in his party as he considers pursuing an impeachment inquiry against Democratic President Joe Biden and his family's overseas business dealings.
"It is a natural step forward that you would have to go to an impeachment inquiry," McCarthy said on Fox News on Sunday. An inquiry would provide Congress "the apex of legal power to get all the information they need", he said.
McCarthy has promised to hold a floor vote for an impeachment inquiry, though he could skip this process, mirroring former speaker Nancy Pelosi's actions against former president Donald Trump. But the speaker seems to want to play it by the book.
With a 222-213 Republican majority in the House of Representatives, McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes to open an impeachment inquiry. The House is scheduled to be back in session on Tuesday.
In the Senate, an impeachment conviction would likely be impossible, especially because a two-thirds majority is needed.
"For me, with respect to impeachment, we're not there yet," Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican, was quoted by CNN as saying on Sunday. "It is not about focusing on the impeachment, it is a question of, do the facts and evidence warrant any further action?"
Probe on wrongdoing
Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told USA Today: "I wholeheartedly embrace investigating and seeing if there was wrongdoing, and there sure is a lot of smoke."
The White House has denied any wrongdoing by the president in connection to the business dealings of his son Hunter. The administration has hired two dozen lawyers, legislative aides and communication staffers to respond to any impeachment inquiry, NBC News cited an aide familiar with the strategy.
Democrats are also banking on the notion that an impeachment could be politically beneficial.
A White House source who was not authorized to speak publicly told NBC: "I wouldn't say anybody here is rooting for that to happen, like, 'Please impeach, because this is going to help us'. But if they do it, if they go through with it, I think there are going to be political ramifications for the Republican Party."
Representative Bob Good, a Virginia Republican, favors impeachment but for a different reason.
"Because of the border invasion that's been facilitated by this president on purpose, willfully, intentionally, the president ought to be impeached for that," he said during an appearance on the NewsNation network.