Jacob Francy, '26
Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, in order to regain friendship status with his far-right ‘Freedom Caucus” bosses in Congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Matt Gaetz (FL), has officially filed an impeachment inquiry of President Biden as of September 12, 2023.
The file alleges that the President benefitted from his son’s illegal business dealings while he was Vice President under President Barack Obama, which would fall under “political corruption.” Another chapter of the filing also alleges Hunter, Biden’s son, was given “preferential treatment” during his federal investigation. McCarthy directed committees, Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means, to look at the inquiries, which have all-Republican chairs. Although there have been many trials and investigations through the House with no evidence of such happening, McCarthy continued with the inquiry.
One problem with this for the Republicans is the fact that none of the allegations of the President occurred while he was holding the Presidency. Instead, they happened while he was Vice President. The Constitution only states that the person under impeachment inquiry must be in office at the time of the impeachment and must have been in office while committing the offense, so it looks more like a loophole the Republicans found.
The Republicans are using this as payback for the fact their last President was impeached twice in his one term as President, even if the impeachment may not even make it through the opening house floor vote. Their anger seems to blind them from the fact that Biden has not committed a crime as President, plus the other fact that their former President committed two offenses, even if he was acquitted both times by a Republican-led Senate.
At the end of the day, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is only introducing this inquiry for one reason: to gain his reputation with the far-right MAGA Republicans. As part of the deal of becoming Speaker, McCarthy agreed to let anyone in the House open a vote to remove him as Speaker at any time, so he needs to play nice with the extremists on his side as much as the other side. He has lost some credibility from the far-right ‘Freedom Caucus’ due to his ongoing compromising down the aisle with other Democrats. For example, he recently helped compromise a deal to raise the debt-ceiling before a government shutdown took place.
No one should be scared or even thinking of a potential Biden-removal of office. Although Republicans have the House majority, many congressmen/congresswomen from the very committees have said there’s no evidence for the charges. It’s a very likely scenario that the inquiry is rejected. Nice try, Mike!