Many Republicans are urging House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to authorize impeachment hearings against President Joe Biden. Biden’s murky business dealings with his son before he entered the White House, coupled with his poor job performance, make this move tempting. But McCarthy should take the longer view because hosting such hearings now would be bad for the country and the GOP.
Impeachment used to be viewed as a last resort to be pursued in extreme cases of malfeasance. The Constitution authorizes it only in the case of an officer of the United States committing “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and that historically meant that ineptness in office was not impeachable. James Buchanan, for example, arguably almost destroyed the country with his feckless behavior during the run-up to the Civil War. Yet no one suggested impeaching the arguably most inept president in history.
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