House Speaker Kevin McCarthy today broke the seal on the “I” word, announcing plans for a formal House inquiry into impeaching Joe Biden. He has not indicated whether the full House will vote before commencing such an investigation, a step Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats skipped in 2019, for which McCarthy criticized them at the time. Given the narrow Republican majority and open questions from some members about supporting a probe, it’s unclear if McCarthy would have the votes.
If everything alleged by Republican investigators is true, Biden has committed impeachable acts. Moreover, an impeachment inquiry may be necessary in order to get to the bottom of those allegations. But based on what we know now, impeaching Biden would be imprudent, politically futile, and potentially costly to Republican chances of keeping the House in 2024. It would also further degrade the impeachment mechanism as a genuine tool of accountability. McCarthy has proven the naysayers wrong before, but he may well be marching his caucus into a trap of their own devising.
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