Speaker Mike Johnson
Senior Republican lawmakers and GOP insiders are reaching a consensus that the chances of successfully impeaching President Joe Biden are tumbling, given the dearth of credible accusations against him and the razor-thin majority Speaker Mike Johnson has in the House.
Three top Republican-chaired committees were tasked with investigating President Biden in an effort to impeach him. Some Republicans have suggested or even admitted the effort is either purely political or retaliation for Democrats in the House twice impeaching Donald Trump. Among them, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Troy Nehls (R-TX), then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Oversight Chair Jim Comer, and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan.
TIME reported last month that “the multi-pronged investigation has failed to prove that Joe Biden benefitted from his son’s business dealings or that he used his official government power to enrich himself or his kin. Nevertheless, leading House Republicans appear determined to impeach the President in the coming months, despite queasiness from within their own ranks.”
CNN reported on Friday that a “growing number of senior House Republicans are coming to terms with a stark realization: It is unlikely that their monthslong investigation into Joe Biden will actually lead to impeaching the president.”
“Top Republicans are not expected to make an official decision on whether to pursue impeachment articles until after a pair of high-stakes depositions later this month with Hunter Biden and the president’s brother, James. But serious doubts are growing inside the GOP that they will be able to convince their razor-thin majority to back the politically perilous impeachment effort in an election-year, according to interviews with over a dozen Republican lawmakers and aides, including some who are close to the probe.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), a far-right Republican some have said was instrumental in the planning of the January 6, 2021 insurrection, told CNN, “I don’t know that the case has been made adequately to the American people.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) added, “Let the American people decide in November if they want to take this country in a different direction.”
One unnamed GOP lawmaker told CNN of the impeachment, “I don’t think it goes anywhere,” and another said point-blank: “We don’t have the votes right now.”
GOP insiders too are growing weary of the move to impeach Biden, given the dearth of evidence.
“The window to impeach is rapidly closing,” one Republican strategist said.
Another, speaking about the investigation into President Biden told CNN, “You’d be hard pressed to say it’s going well,” and added, “It’s a jumbled mess.”
Meanwhile, CNN adds, House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) “has gotten in hot water for his handling of witness transcripts and has held only one public hearing on his probe, which one senior GOP aide called at the time an ‘an unmitigated disaster.’”
Add to this that on Tuesday theWall Street Journal editorial board wrote, “Impeaching Mayorkas Achieves Nothing: A policy dispute doesn’t qualify as a high crime and misdemeanor.”
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
