McCarthy Slow Rolls Opening Biden Impeachment Inquiry, Says Will Take a Full Vote of the House To Do So

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made clear on Friday that House Republicans will only open an impeachment inquiry for President Joe Biden with a floor vote in the chamber. McCarthy’s comments appeared to pour some cold water on hardline members of his conference who have been demanding he open an inquiry immediately, while others have already filed their own articles of impeachment.

“To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives,” McCarthy told Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle on Friday.

“That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person,” the speaker added.

A full vote of the House would require all but four Republican members to vote in favor of opening an inquiry for it to happen, given the GOP’s slim majority.

McCarthy has signaled support for a Biden inquiry before, but has generally been vague on the details. “So, if you look at all the information we have been able to gather so far, it is a natural step forward that you would have to go to an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo this past Sunday.

House Republicans have long alleged that President Joe Biden has been “peddling influence” in a scheme related to his son Hunter Biden’s significant income from foreign companies. So far, however, the GOP-led Oversight Committee has yet to reveal a direct link between the president and money received by Hunter Biden.

On Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a McCarthy ally declared she would not vote to avoid a government shutdown unless an inquiry was opened.

Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, responded to Greene in a statement, “One of the House’s most powerful members, Marjorie Taylor Greene, just admitted that the House Republican impeachment is only a partisan stunt driven by the most extreme, far-right members.”

“If Speaker McCarthy proceeds to an impeachment simply to throw red meat to the right wing, as a condition for or distraction from far-right GOP efforts to shut down the government, it will prove once and for all this is a baseless, politically-motivated exercise not rooted in evidence and not about getting to the truth,” Sams argued.

The Hill’s Emily Brooks laid out the impact of McCarthy’s statement to Breitbart, which she noted is also consistent with the stance he took when he urged House Democrats to take a floor vote when opening an inquiry into then-President Trump in 2019. “Taking a full House vote would also aid McCarthy in showing full conference buy-in, as well as help boost the legal argument that impeachment could help Republicans produce more information from the Biden administration in court,” Brooks explained.