The US House of Representatives, controlled by the opposition Republicans, has formally approved the ongoing impeachment investigation against President Joe Biden. A corresponding resolution passed the Congressional Chamber on Wednesday with a majority of 221 to 212 votes. Republicans accuse Biden of being involved in his son Hunter’s controversial foreign dealings. The president rejects this and his Democrats accuse the Republicans of a political maneuver.
It is a technical step that Republicans hope will give them more legal leverage in their investigations. This does not open impeachment proceedings against the president.
The then Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, had already ordered “a formal impeachment investigation” against Biden on September 12th. However, there was never a vote on this in the chamber’s plenary session. The Republicans have now made up for this in order to put the ongoing investigation on a more legally stable footing – among other things with a view to possible legal disputes with regard to subpoenaing witnesses and requesting documents. The Republicans voted unanimously in favor of formalizing the ongoing investigation , the Democrats against it.
A new majority in the House of Representatives would be necessary for a so-called impeachment of the President – in a sense, the indictment in an impeachment proceeding. A two-thirds majority in the Senate would then be required for actual impeachment. Biden’s impeachment is considered impossible, especially since his Democrats make up the majority in the Senate.
The Democrats see the Republicans’ actions as revenge by the conservative party for the two impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump during his presidency – and an attempt to politically damage Biden before the presidential election in November next year. Some Republicans accuse Biden, a Democrat, of abusing his public office for his family’s financial gain. However, they have not yet provided clear evidence of serious misconduct. Even numerous Republicans admit that there is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden. It is questionable whether the investigation will actually result in impeachment proceedings.
The Republicans accuse Hunter Biden of having in the past exploited his father’s important position as Barack Obama’s vice president (2009 to 2017) for business in Ukraine and China. They also accuse the current president of being involved in these transactions and of lying to the public.
