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It’s not easy being a Republican these days. Consumer confidence is much higher, inflation is much lower, and there isn’t even a flood of migrants storming the “open border” from Mexico. With things going so well for the US and so poorly for the GOP, House Republicans seem more determined than ever to impeach somebody for something (or to unimpeach Donald Trump, and that’s not even a thing).
Sadly for them, Hunter Biden, the main target of their various investigations, is unimpeachable (not his character, mind you, which is anything but) on account of never having held a position in government.
That’s unfortunate because things would probably be easier for the GOP if they could impeach private persons. Conversely, this wrinkle in the Constitution is good news for people like Hillary Clinton, Bud Light executives, and the director of the movie Barbie, who would otherwise be dragged before House committees to atone for their various high crimes and misdemeanors.
So what’s House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to do? On the one hand, the Republican base and the (very large) right wing of his caucus are thirsting for Democratic blood (not literally, of course, because they are not “globalists”). On the other hand, there is a dearth of impeachable offenses being committed.
However, it seems increasingly likely that this is not going to stop the House GOP from initiating impeachment proceedings against somebody. And in that case, why not go for the biggest prize of them all?
That seems to be McCarthy’s thinking as well. On Monday, he said the House probes into the business dealings of Hunter Biden, which Republicans hope somehow also involve his dad, are “rising to the level of an impeachment inquiry.”
Granted, he made that statement on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, and people tend to be a bit more unguarded among friends than they would be if, for example, they were talking to a journalist on a news channel.
McCarthy seems to have realized that, which is why he tried to dial down the impeachment talk a little bit yesterday.
Speaking to reporters/stenographers on Capitol Hill, he clarified that he wasn’t actually announcing impeachment proceedings. McCarthy also indicated that the focus of any such probe right now would be the obstruction of the Biden administration and not something more specific.
“I simply said that the actions that I’m seeing by this administration — withholding the agencies from being able to work with us, that would rise to the level of an impeachment inquiry,” he stated.
Obviously, to make that stick, Republican investigators would first have to show that the target of the impeachment proceedings actually orchestrated this “obstruction.” In addition, the level of non-cooperation on the part of the White House with opposition lawmakers who seem intent on weaponizing their oversight authority does not appear to be unusual.
For example, it’s not as though Biden announced that he would be “fighting all the subpoenas,” as a certain other president said not so long ago.
However, now that McCarthy is on the record, the pressure on him to act will keep increasing — not only from the base and his right-wing colleagues but also from the aforementioned certain other president.
And, seeing how the Speaker isn’t exactly known for having an iron spine, chances are that the GOP is going to impeach somebody for something before the end of the year. It’s not as though House Republicans are doing much else these days.
