GOP Believes It Has the Votes to Launch Formal Impeachment Inquiry into President Biden
House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed confidence that the Republicans have enough votes to move forward with a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Speaking to Fox News, Johnson stated, “I believe we will. I suspect no Democrats will assist in this effort, but they should.”
Johnson, along with key GOP committee chairs, argued that launching an impeachment inquiry would strengthen the legal standing of the Republicans in court. They accused the White House of “stonewalling” their probe into the president and his son’s foreign business dealings. The White House, however, has strongly disputed these claims.
While House Republicans have been pushing for a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden, they have not had the necessary votes until now. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called on his committees in September to open the inquiry amid increasing pressure from the right flank to move ahead.
The push for an impeachment inquiry comes as Hunter Biden’s lawyers request an open hearing in place of a deposition. House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik called the request “unacceptable” and emphasized the importance of proceeding with a deposition from a legal and factual perspective.
The White House has dismissed the impeachment inquiry effort as “baseless” and “politically-motivated.” Ian Sams, a spokesman for the White House counsel’s office, stated, “This reflects how this chaotic House GOP is focused on the wrong priorities, when they should be working on real issues Americans actually care about like the President is.”
Johnson and Stefanik, who both served on the impeachment defense team of Donald Trump, assured that the inquiry would not be used as a partisan political tool. They noted that the White House is preventing key witnesses from coming forward and withholding evidence, prompting the need for a formal vote on the impeachment inquiry.
CNN’s Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.