AP Photo/Evan Vucci; AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
House Republican calls to impeach President Joe Biden are loud, but some members of their party are saying something different. According to NBC News, there are 18 House Republicans who are vulnerable in their districts, districts that went for Biden in 2020. Those Republicans face not only keeping their seats in 2024, but how to keep the GOP in the majority.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy floated the possibility of an impeachment inquiry into Biden in late July, related to his business dealings with his son Hunter Biden, and while the most vocal GOP members of the House are ready to strike, the majority is slim and could put that move in jeopardy. Some of those skittish Republicans are also saying that there simply isn’t enough evidence on which to impeach a sitting president. Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY):
Impeachment should not be political by any stretch. We’ve seen what happens when Congress acts in a political matter — it does not serve the interests of the American people in any way. So the question to me right now is do the investigations — are they producing enough facts and evidence that warrant taking it to the next step? I don’t think it’s there at the moment, but these committees are doing their job.
Lawler narrowly defeated Democratic incumbent former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in 2022 in a district that went for Biden in 2020.
Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) told reporters that the true purpose for an impeachment has been overlooked:
We’ve got to get back to a point where impeachment is what it was intended to be. I feel like, you know, both in the last cycle and in this cycle, we’re converting into essentially a vote of no confidence in the British Parliament. And I don’t want to see our country go down that path.
Other Republicans seemingly hesitant to pursue a presidential impeachment include Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), and Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY). It would only take five Republicans to derail a vote to impeach — and the six named here are just the ones who were willing to say so on the record.
The post ‘Impeachment Should Not Be Political’: Moderate House Republicans Throw Cold Water on Potential Move Against Biden in New Report first appeared on Mediaite.