Establishment House Republicans signaled Thursday they oppose impeaching President Joe Biden after reclaiming the majority.
While conservative members of the House filed nine articles of impeachment against Biden since 2021, many establishment Republicans, now with more power in the majority, believe impeaching Biden is not a good idea.
“We shouldn’t even be talking about that, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) told Politico. Fitzpatrick recently won his election by about ten points over his Democrat challenger.
“There’s so many problems we’ve got to deal with on the policy front … I don’t like the fact that that’s even being discussed,” Fitzpatrick whined.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 21: Subcommittee Ranking Member Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) delivers his opening statement during a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee during a hearing on Capitol Hill on September 21, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Committee is holding a hearing to examine the steps being taken to hold Russia accountable for atrocities committed in Ukraine. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Brian Fitzpatrick
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who won his reelection by about three points, said impeaching Joe Biden, like Democrats impeached former President Donald Trump for a “perfect phone call,” is not appealing to independents.
“I want to warn our colleagues: There may be some activists in our party that want impeachment. But I can tell you that the swing voters and the independent voters don’t. …We change leadership by elections, impeachment is the outlier,” Bacon said.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) echoed the establishment House members’ opposition. Cole won his district by about 30 points. “The failure to win the Senate hurts a lot, and I think, to be honest, the margin does make a difference. A lot of the people that put us in the majority are from relatively moderate seats. I would hate to put them in that position unless there was an overwhelming reason to” impeach, Cole said.
In the past two years, nine articles of impeachment of been filed against Biden. Reasons for impeachment range from selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to foreign nations, the open southern border, pandemic overreach, and the deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-ID), a conservative fighter in the House, stated in September that Republicans will investigate Biden, which will lead Republicans to an “appropriate conclusion” of whether to impeach Biden.
“When we get control, we need to launch investigations and let that lead us to the appropriate conclusion and repercussions,” Banks told Axios.
Likely House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy also told Axios before the midterm election he was only focused on winning back the House from Rep. Nancy Pelosi. “We just put out the Commitment to America, that’s what we’re focused on,” he said.
The White House counsel’s office spokesman, Ian Sams, has pushed back on the possibility of Republicans holding Biden accountable for his failures.
“Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically-motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories,” he told Politico.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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