What to know about the impeachment process in Congress after the House voted to formalize the Biden inquiry
Although House Republicans voted Wednesday to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, GOP leadership has made a point to indicate the move does not mean impeaching the president is inevitable, even as pressure grows within the party and among the Republican base.
“We’re not going to prejudge the outcome of this because we can’t,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “It’s not a political calculation. We’re following the law and we are the rule of law team and I’m going to hold to that.”
Biden slammed the House vote Wednesday night, calling it a “baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts.”
Here are key things to about how the inquiry and how the impeachment process works in Congress:
- Initiating impeachment proceedings: Up until this point, House Republicans had not had enough votes to legitimize their ongoing inquiry on the Biden family’s alleged foreign business dealings with a full chamber vote. The probe has struggled to uncover wrongdoing by the president, which is why it hadn’t garnered the unified support of the full GOP conference. Part of the reason for Wednesday’s vote came from the White House telling the trio of GOP-led congressional committees leading the investigation that its subpoenas were illegitimate without a formal House vote to authorize the inquiry. That prompted some reluctant, more moderate Republican lawmakers to get on board with their party’s investigative efforts. The Trump administration made a similar argument against House Democrats at the start of his 2019 impeachment. The argument from Republican proponents of the effort, according to multiple GOP lawmakers and aides, is that a floor vote will strengthen their legal standing against the White House and fortify their subpoenas to secure key witness testimony.
- Investigating impeachable offenses: Impeachable offenses, according to the Constitution, include “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” What exactly constitutes those crimes, particularly High Crimes and Misdemeanors, has been the subject of vigorous debate throughout US history. During previous impeachment inquiries, a House committee, usually the Judiciary Committee or its subcommittee, conducts an investigation to see if a federal official’s conduct warrants impeachment. Since former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched the Biden inquiry in September, the trio of committees leading the investigation have interviewed various officials from the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service while also obtaining a mountain of documents and new bank records, including from Biden family members. Even as Republicans issue new subpoenas and schedule more depositions, including with the president’s brother and son, they still have not uncovered credible evidence that backs up their loftiest claims against Biden.
- House votes: If the process moves forward, each of the committees will provide input to include in articles of impeachment that would be written up under the House Judiciary Committee, which would vote on whether to refer them to the full House of Representatives. After that committee vote, the articles, if approved, are given special status on the House floor and it requires a simple majority of voting lawmakers to approve them.
- A Senate trial: After the House votes to impeach a president, the Constitution calls for a trial in the US Senate. If there were a trial, senators become jurors and the chief justice of the US Supreme Court presides. The House votes on managers who bring the trial in the Senate. Although they might be helped by outside counsel, the House managers bring the trial and present evidence. The impeached official can offer a defense or have counsel do it.
House GOP chairs say impeachment inquiry vote “sent a message loud and clear” to White House
House Oversight Chair James Comer and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan took a victory lap after every House Republican voted in favor of formalizing the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, overcoming the lack of votes when it was first unilaterally launched in September under former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“We are very pleased with the vote today. I think that sent a message loud and clear to the White House,” Comer told reporters shortly after the vote to formalize the inquiry passed.
But when asked by CNN if formalizing the inquiry meant that bringing articles of impeachment against the president is now inevitable, Comer said, “I don’t know about that.” He said that would be the job of the Judiciary Committee, adding, “I don’t impeach. I just investigate.”
Jordan added, “The House has now spoken and I think pretty loudly, pretty clearly with every single Republican voting in favor of moving into this official impeachment inquiry phase.”
Jordan said formalizing the inquiry will help investigators get “key individuals in to speak to us in a more timely fashion” and get access to additional documents.
Comer said there are roughly 5,000 emails from Biden’s time as vice president where he used a pseudonym. He said the National Archives has turned over around 1,200 pages included in their latest tranche of documents provided to the House Oversight Committee.
GOP Rep. Ken Buck, who voted to formalize the inquiry after saying for days he was leaning against it, suggested to CNN that his Freedom Caucus colleagues helped convince him to support the resolution.
“He buttered me up,” Buck quipped, pointing at GOP Rep. Andy Biggs.
Biden calls House impeachment inquiry “baseless political stunt”
President Joe Biden is calling the House vote to formalize its impeachment inquiry into him a “baseless political stunt.”
“Instead of doing anything to help make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies. Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts,” Biden said in a statement shortly after the vote on Wednesday.
The president referred to issues like the economy, the southern border, Ukraine and Israel and said “Republicans in Congress won’t act to help.” He also called out congressional Republicans for leaving Washington, DC, before acting to make progress on any of these issues.
“There is a lot of work to be done. But after wasting weeks trying to find a new Speaker of the House and having to expel their own members, Republicans in Congress are leaving for a month without doing anything to address these pressing challenges,” Biden said in the statement.
The House voted along party lines Wednesday night to formalize an impeachment inquiry into the president with a vote of 221-212.
White House declines to comment on the president’s opinion of his son defying a congressional subpoena
The White House declined to answer when asked about President Joe Biden’s thoughts on his son Hunter Biden defying a congressional subpoena for closed-door testimony. Hunter Biden has said he is willing to testify publicly.
“I would have to have to refer you to … Hunter’s personal representatives. He’s a private citizen. I’m just not going to get into it,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Wednesday.
House Oversight chair James Comer and House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan said in a joint statement that they will now “initiate contempt of Congress proceedings” against Hunter Biden.
In 2021, President Biden was asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins about those who refused subpoenas from the January 6 committee. He said that the Justice Department should prosecute them, saying in part “I hope that the committee goes after them and holds them accountable.”
