House Republicans consider holding a formal vote to authorize their Biden impeachment inquiry
Associated PressWASHINGTON — Republicans are considering holding an official House vote next month to authorize their impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden as the party looks to formalize a process that has yet to yield any direct evidence of wrongdoing by the president. Republican leaders have long said a vote on the impeachment investigation was unnecessary, but are reconsidering as White House lawyers use the lack of formal House authorization to argue that the entire investigation lacks “constitutional legitimacy.” Yet holding a vote on the impeachment investigation would be a high-stakes gambit by House Republican leadership, with no guarantee of success, given their narrow 222-213 majority. A vote on the impeachment investigation would put every House Republican on record in support of a process that can lead to the ultimate penalty for a president, dismissal from office for what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors.” For some moderate Republicans, especially those representing swing districts that Biden won in the 2020 election, it’s a vote that could come with considerable political risk. “House Republicans have worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people for months to deliver transparency, following the money and the facts to uncover what I believe will prove to be one of the largest political corruption scandals of our lifetime and potentially in our nation’s history,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of the GOP leadership team, said at the press conference Wednesday.