- The resolution passed out of the House Rules Committee Tuesday, its final step before heading to the House floor
- Nearly all Republicans, save Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., have expressed an openness to voting to authorize the inquiry
The House is on track to vote on authorizing the Biden impeachment inquiry on Wednesday – and nearly all Republicans are onboard.
The resolution passed out of the House Rules Committee Tuesday, its final step before heading to the House floor.
Only Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., is still solidly a ‘lean no.’ ‘I’ve got 24 hours to get some sense knocked into my head,’ he joked to reporters.
Even the moderate and Biden district Republicans seem to be onboard with authorizing the inquiry – and insist it does not put them in a bind of being obligated to hold a vote on impeaching the president further down the line.
‘With anything with due process, there’s there’s a chance for all outcomes to occur,’ Rep. John Garcia, R-Calif., who represents a district Biden won in 2020, told DailyMail.com.
Speaker Mike Johnson insisted they were not under any obligation to push through with impeaching the president just by opening an inquiry. ‘We’re not going to prejudge the outcome of this,’ he told reporters. ‘It’s not a political calculation. We’re following the law’
The vote will come on a day when Hunter Biden is in DC – but is not expected to show up to his mandatory deposition on Capitol Hill
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy had declared the inquiry open in October, but now Republicans say they need a vote to fully green-light the probe due to White House ‘stonewalling.’
Holding a vote to impeach the president could prove more politically divisive – and potentially damaging to Republicans from swing districts. Not holding a vote to impeach Biden risks looking like the investigation has exonerated him.
Speaker Mike Johnson insisted they were not under any obligation to push through with impeaching the president just by opening an inquiry.
‘We’re not going to prejudge the outcome of this,’ he told reporters. ‘It’s not a political calculation. We’re following the law.’
The vote will come on a day when Hunter Biden is in DC – but is not expected to show up to his mandatory deposition on Capitol Hill.
Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer and Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan have threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of court if he does not appear for a closed-door deposition by December 13.
Authorizing the probe with the approval of a majority of the House is a way for Republicans to bolster their standing in potential court battles.
Hunter’s lawyers have insisted their client will only testify publicly. Republicans have said he must first come in for a private deposition before he gets a public testimony.
Now, Republicans say Hunter could hide behind the shield of the most recent Department of Justice indictment – which hit him with nine criminal charges for avoiding paying taxes while spending millions on an ‘extravagant lifestyle.’
The probe is investigating whether Biden partook in the business deals that capitalized on his name to enrich his family and whether he used the Department of Justice to offer special treatment to his son.
Republican impeachment investigators will need to significantly ramp up the proof they have of Joe Biden’s involvement in his family’s overseas business dealings if they are to have the votes to impeach the president. Some Republicans say they have not yet seen enough proof to convince them to impeach the president.
‘The thing about evidence is that you need to see it before you prejudge it,’ Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., chair of the pragmatic Main Street Caucus told DailyMail.com.
House Republicans have uncovered evidence of payments from Hunter and James Biden to Joe Biden’s bank accounts after lucrative business dealings, but the White House has shown evidence suggesting those could be loan repayments.