The United States Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, has announced to open an impeachment inquiry on President Biden, saying the investigation would focus on allegations of corruption and abuse of power. Republicans have been carrying out an investigation into Mr. Biden since they took control of the House in January this year, but even the recent hearings have found nothing solid against the President. Mr. Kevin further expressed that Hunter Biden’s business meetings and actions were questionable. He added those were the reasons for the impeachment of President Biden.
Impeachment is the first step in the process or efforts to remove the sitting President or senior judicial or executive official from office. However, there are certain challenges as it requires a simple majority vote in the chamber to initiate the trial in the United States Senate, where there would be a two-thirds majority essential for the conviction or removal of the President. Former President Donald Trump had to go through the same process when he was impeached twice by the Democrats. When Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, they impeached Trump two times over the Ukraine issue in 2019 and for the capital riot in 2021. Still, he was declared innocent by the Senate in both scenarios.
Now, the House has put a series of allegations against President Biden and his Son. The Speaker, Kevin, said Mr. Biden had lied to the American public that he had no information about his son’s business dealings. Kevin added that the Biden family has received millions of dollars from shell companies, and the Treasury Department has marked those payments as questionable.
Mr. President Allegedly Took Bribe For Legal Actions
Mr. Kevin expressed an informant from the FBI had alleged that the President had taken a bribe in return for official actions as vice president and that he used his government office to support his son in the business. The House also claims that the Biden family took special treatment by the President’s administration during the investigation for possible criminal actions. However, so far, Republicans have no solid evidence against President Biden.
According to Mr. McCarthy, initiating impeachment proceedings would grant House Republicans the necessary authority to collect all relevant information and provide answers to the American public. In the past, congressional committees have been granted broader powers to issue and enforce subpoenas for documents and testimony during impeachment inquiries, as per court traditions.
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Previously, the House speaker was hesitant to support the Republican members in his chamber who were advocating for the start of impeachment proceedings. He believed that it was premature to take such action. However, due to mounting pressure from conservative members of his party and the upcoming challenging votes on government spending, Mr. McCarthy altered his position. This was especially important given the narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
Can The Impeachment Remove President Biden?
It is uncertain whether an impeachment resolution in the House will ultimately be successful. The Republicans have a slight majority in the chamber, and some members of the party who are considering running for re-election in November 2024 are hesitant to proceed with a process that will further ignite political tensions in the country. Biden administration immediately responded to McCarthy’s impeachment announcement.
Ian Sams, Spokesperson for the White House, conveyed on a social media post that Republicans have investigated the President for around nine months and found no clue of any wrongdoing. Till now, three US Presidents have been impeached, and the Senate removed none of those Presidents. Now Democrats have a majority of 51-49 in the Senate, ensuring this impeachment on President Biden would also get nothing.
Mr. McCarthy has only approved an impeachment inquiry, but pressure will build for a formal vote in the House to set rules for hearings. Centrists would be put on record, potentially fueling Democratic attacks in the 2024 general election. Mr. McCarthy currently focuses on preventing conservative members of Congress from rebelling and calling for his removal, with the issue of next year being put aside for now. The impeachment is one of the ways that could buy McCarthy some more time to secure his job in the coming months.
