House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday he is calling on his committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, even as they have yet to prove allegations he directly profited off his son’s foreign business deals.
The move comes amid increasing pressure from his right flank to move ahead with the inquiry, including some on his far right who have threatened to oust McCarthy from his speakership if he does not move swiftly enough on such an investigation. McCarthy is also trying to secure votes as part of negotiations to keep the government funded beyond the September 30 deadline to avert a shutdown.
“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption,” the California Republican said in remarks outside his office on Capitol Hill. “They warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House (committees) to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.”
The House-led GOP investigations have yet to provide any direct evidence that the president financially benefited from Hunter Biden’s career overseas.
White House spokesman for oversight and investigations Ian Sams called it “extreme politics at its worst.”
“House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing…His own GOP members have said so…He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support… Extreme politics at its worst,” Sams said in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
