Republicans split on faction’s push for Biden impeachment
WASHINGTON — Republicans are deeply divided over impeaching President Biden, with newly energized lawmakers on the far right applying pressure to do so and leaders and rank-and-file members concerned they have undertaken a politically risky battle they cannot win.
A vote last month to send impeachment articles against Biden for his border policies to the Homeland Security Committee alongside the Judiciary Committee amounted to a stalling tactic by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to quell the urgent calls for action from the hard right. But it has also highlighted the rifts in the House GOP over moving forward and complicating a separate monthslong drive by the panel to prepare an impeachment case against Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, for the same offenses.
Neither pursuit appears to have the votes to proceed, and many Republicans are worried that without a stronger case against the president, even trying the move could be disastrous for their party.
Several rank-and-file Republicans from politically competitive districts had balked at the idea of impeaching Mayorkas, even after McCarthy endorsed that push. Few believe that the new investigation of Biden — a hastily arranged effort designed to halt a right-wing attempt to impeach the president outright with no investigation — will yield anything that could persuade them to oust him.
“We’re supposed to impeach on high crimes and misdemeanors,” said Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Nebraska Republican who previously stated he opposed impeaching Mayorkas over a policy disagreement.
When asked whether he was any more inclined to support impeaching Biden for the same reason, he answered, “Not really.”
Even among Republicans who support removing Biden, there is deep skepticism about whether focusing on his border policies is the best place to build an impeachment case against him.
“To be frank with you, I think that our issue is a side issue — it’s not the main issue here,” said Representative Carlos Gimenez, a Florida Republican and member of the homeland security panel. He said accusations of financial impropriety involving the president’s son, Hunter Biden, which are being investigated by the House Oversight Committee, are “where the president really is going to have the majority of his problems.”
But that panel has yet to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by Biden despite months of scrutiny and the frequent public claims by top Republicans that he has engaged in corrupt and potentially criminal behavior.
The push to impeach Biden comes amid a fierce struggle between McCarthy and a rightwing faction of his party that has been in open revolt ever since he struck a debt ceiling deal with the president. That faction includes Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican who forced a vote in June demanding Biden be investigated on allegations of having “intentionally facilitated a complete and total invasion at the southern border.” Her resolution made no mention of Mayorkas.
The measure thrust McCarthy into an awkward position. Despite his frequent criticism of Biden for having “failed” the country with “open-border policies,” the speaker has pushed back on efforts to impeach the president, arguing Republicans had yet to articulate a good reason for doing so.
In the absence of clear direction, Republicans on the homeland security panel are struggling to figure out how to prioritize their new Biden-focused charge without undermining their ongoing inquiry into Mayorkas. Some suggested that the new priority would prolong the committee’s work on Mayorkas.
“It might change timing,” said Representative Austin Pfluger, Republican of Texas, adding that while it was “probably important” to continue on both tracks, the referral for Biden made that line of inquiry “really important.”