House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Saturday that he believes Republicans have the support needed to formalize their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, although there is no evidence of the president’s wrongdoing at the moment.
House Republicans have been trying to dig up dirt on Biden for months. Johnson said that holding a floor vote to approve the inquiry would give them more investigatory power.
Asked whether he had the votes during an appearance on Fox News, Johnson replied, “Yeah, I believe we will.”
He added, “I suspect no Democrat will assist in this effort, but they should.”
Republican lawmakers leaving a closed-door conference Friday told reporters that the vote could come as early as next week.
Appearing alongside Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) on “Fox & Friends,” Johnson recalled that both of them had served on former President Donald Trump’s defense team when he was impeached over allegations that he abused the power of his office and obstructed justice, and again when he was impeached for trying to stage a coup.
“This is very different,” Johnson claimed of the Biden inquiry.
Republicans have accused Biden of using his time in the vice president’s office to enrich his family, including his son Hunter Biden, but have not been able to produce evidence. The party’s far-right flank has agitated for Joe Biden’s impeachment, pressuring then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) into launching an impeachment inquiry back in September, before McCarthy’s ouster.
House Speaker Mike Johnson addresses reporters from behind a podium that reads
House Speaker Mike Johnson addresses reporters from behind a podium that reads “Biden impeachment inquiry” on Wednesday.
At the time, McCarthy claimed that his colleagues had uncovered a “culture of corruption.” The White House labeled the effort “extreme politics at its worst.”
Three House committees — judiciary, oversight, and ways and means — have struggled to produce results in their investigations. Hunter Biden has offered to appear at a hearing, but only if it can be public.
Republicans have not held any public impeachment hearings since September, when their own witnesses said they did not have evidence to impeach the president.
The inquiry is seen by its critics as a way to muddy the waters between Joe Biden and Trump, who stands accused of dozens of charges in various civil and criminal cases.
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