The House of Representatives has formalized its impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, giving it legal teeth amid expected court battles.
The House of Representatives on Dec. 13 formalized its impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden, a move expected to give more firepower to Republicans’ efforts to compel the provision of documents and testimony from the White House and the Biden family.
All Republicans voted in favor of the resolution, which passed 221–212.
The passage came hours after the president’s son Hunter Biden defied a subpoena to provide testimony at a closed-door hearing before Republican investigators. Instead, Mr. Biden showed up outside of the Capitol and demanded that he testify at a public hearing instead. Top Republicans say they will now initiate contempt proceedings against Mr. Biden.
“President Biden must be held accountable for his lies, corruption, and obstruction,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said on the House floor on Dec. 13, hours before the impeachment inquiry vote. “We have a duty to provide the accountability and transparency that Americans demand and deserve.”
The 14-page measure, put forth by Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), instructs the House Ways and Means, Oversight and Accountability, and Judiciary committees to continue their probe of President Biden, who has come under Republican scrutiny for allegedly profiting from his time as vice president and afterward through family foreign business dealings, including with China, that involved Mr. Biden.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) denounced the result, calling the vote a “complete and total embarrassment.”
“Extreme MAGA Republicans have nothing to show for their majority. There’s no evidence of an impeachable offense, and they’re simply bending the knee to their puppet-master-in-chief and twice-impeached Donald Trump,” Mr. Jeffries told The Epoch Times after the vote.
On Sept. 12, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced the impeachment inquiry without a House vote. The White House had argued that the inquiry was illegitimate as a result, prompting top Republicans to concede that while they didn’t think that a vote was legally required, it would be better.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Dec. 12 that the inquiry is necessary given that the White House has said it won’t cooperate with Congress in turning over certain records and allowing witnesses to testify.
By Jackson Richman and Joseph Lord
