Though Republican members of Congress like Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) are prominently insistent on their interest in impeaching President Joe Biden, reports indicate that the necessary support from House Republicans (who hold the chamber) for moving forward with even a more formal inquiry isn’t necessarily there.
NBC was among the news outlets with comments from some of the dissenting voices in the GOP, who expressed concern at the politically tied rush to launch impeachment proceedings. That list included Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who also recently spoke on the House floor in harsh terms against efforts from members including Boebert to cancel past presidential declarations of emergency. The declarations gave the legal foundation for economic sanctions.
“Impeachment should not be political by any stretch. We’ve seen what happens when Congress acts in a political matter — it does not serve the interests of the American people in any way,” Lawler said, according to NBC. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) expressed similar concerns. “I feel like, you know, both in the last cycle and in this cycle, we’re converting into essentially a vote of no confidence in the British Parliament. And I don’t want to see our country go down that path,” he said. And a third, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), expressed concern about the lack of substantiating evidence behind some of the far-right diatribes against Biden.
“You hear a lot of rumor and innuendo… but that’s not fact to me,” Joyce said. “As a former prosecutor, I think there has to be facts, and I think there has to be due process that we follow, and I’ve not seen any of that today.” Joyce and Fitzpatrick’s comments also came from NBC.
Republican complaints about Biden have focused on two main areas: his ostensible mishandling of the southern border and claimed ties held by the president to allegedly corrupt business dealings involving Hunter Biden, the president’s son. No evidence has emerged showing any financial kickback for the current president in connection to those dealings. As for the border, actual law enforcement personnel involved in border security efforts continue to attest to the wide-reaching support provided by the Biden administration.
