What To Know About Impeachment Inquiry And What’s Next For President Biden

What To Know About Impeachment Inquiry And What’s Next For President Biden

The Republican-led United States House of Representatives has officially voted to authorize its impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Until this point, the House lacked sufficient votes to legitimize the ongoing inquiry. In the recent vote on Wednesday, lawmakers supported the measure with a tally of 221-212.

All Republicans voted in favor, while every member of President Biden’s Democratic Party opposed it.

The decision to hold a vote came amid mounting pressure on Republican Speaker Mike Johnson and his team to demonstrate progress in the nearly yearlong investigation into the business dealings of Biden’s family members.

The vote took place shortly after Hunter Biden, the President’s son, defied a congressional subpoena by refusing to appear for a private deposition at the House of Representatives.

He declined to testify behind closed doors, expressing a preference for public testimony, citing concerns about potential misrepresentation of his words.

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Here is what you need to know:

What is an impeachment inquiry?

An impeachment inquiry is a formal investigation into potential wrongdoing by a federal official, such as the president, cabinet officials, or judges. Enshrined in the US Constitution, this process represents the most potent oversight tool Congress possesses over the executive branch and serves as the initial phase toward a potential impeachment, wherein charges are levied against an official.

The Constitution outlines impeachment as a recourse for the removal of presidents, vice presidents, and civil officers due to “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

While the House of Representatives has the authority to impeach an official, only the Senate holds the power to convict and remove the individual from office. This was exemplified in recent events when former President Donald Trump faced two impeachment proceedings by the House but was acquitted in the Senate.

It is noteworthy that, to date, no president has been compelled to leave the White House through impeachment. However, Joe Biden is the eighth president to be the subject of an impeachment inquiry. Of the previous seven, only Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Trump faced impeachment after an inquiry.

Why is this happening now?

The House of Representatives initiated an impeachment inquiry in September, and the process has now been formalized.

In November, a senior White House attorney argued that the investigation was invalid because the House had not yet formalized the impeachment inquiry through a vote. The White House raised questions about the legal and constitutional basis for the requests for information from Republican lawmakers.

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While the constitution and House rules do not necessitate a vote to initiate an impeachment inquiry, resolutions authorizing such inquiries have been passed in previous presidential impeachments. Initially hesitant Republicans, who sought concrete evidence against the president, have been influenced by their leadership’s recent argument that formalizing the inquiry would strengthen their legal standing and encourage the White House to cooperate fully by providing more information.

Republican Speaker Mike Johnson clarified during a news conference on Tuesday that the vote is not a move to impeach President Biden but a step to continue the impeachment inquiry. He expressed confidence in garnering full support for the vote.

Congressional investigators have already secured nearly 40,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records and extensive testimony from key witnesses, including high-ranking Department of Justice officials tasked with investigating Hunter Biden.

Is there enough evidence against Joe Biden?

Republicans have accused President Biden and his family of benefiting financially from his tenure as vice president, particularly focusing on his son Hunter Biden’s business activities. Allegations of “influence peddling” and “pay-to-play” schemes, particularly in Ukraine and China, have been raised. Republicans point to an FBI document where an informant claims that the head of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm with Hunter Biden on its board, said it cost $5 million to pay one Biden and $5 million to another Biden.

The bribery claim is tied to the allegation that President Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor to halt an investigation into Burisma. Democrats counter by emphasizing that the Justice Department investigated the Burisma claim during Trump’s presidency, closing the matter after finding “insufficient evidence.”

Hunter Biden is facing legal challenges, including charges related to false statements about illegal drug use when purchasing a firearm. A grand jury has also indicted him for tax offenses. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the federal gun charges, and his lawyer asserts that he has fulfilled his tax obligations.

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Amidst these issues, Hunter Biden defied a subpoena, leading members of the House Oversight Committee to consider holding him in contempt of Congress, which could result in prison time. Hunter Biden maintains that there is no evidence supporting allegations of his father’s financial involvement in his business.

Could President Biden be removed from office?

Analysts predict that the Republican effort to impeach Joe Biden is likely to fail in removing him from office. Even if the House manages to achieve the required simple majority for impeachment, the Senate would need to vote with a two-thirds majority to convict, a challenging task with Democrats holding a slim 51-49 majority.

While the removal of President Biden may be unlikely, going through the impeachment process could allow Republicans to emphasize allegations of corruption throughout the 2024 election campaign. This move also grants the three Republican-controlled House committees leading the inquiry the authority to subpoena documents and testimony, with the ability to enforce those requests through the judiciary.

Representative Tom Cole commented on the vote, stating that the resolution formalizes the impeachment inquiry initiated since September and empowers the House to enforce its subpoenas.

In response, President Biden characterized the Republican focus on impeachment as an attempt to divert attention from addressing pressing issues and improve Americans’ lives, describing it as a baseless political stunt unsupported by facts.

Credit: Al Jazeera

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