House Republicans unveil resolution to authorize Biden impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday released the text of a resolution that would authorize their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., would formalize the ongoing impeachment inquiry that’s been driven by three GOP-led House committees: Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means. It would help the committees enforce subpoenas and allow the panels' chairmen to designate open hearings in their probe into the Biden family.

Multiple House leaders have said the chamber is expected to vote on the resolution next week. It is scheduled to go before the House Rules Committee on Tuesday morning, meaning the earliest it would come up for a vote is likely Wednesday, on the eve of the chamber's last day in session this year.

The Biden administration has repeatedly characterized House Republicans' impeachment inquiry efforts as “illegitimate." In a statement Thursday, Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, called the resolution a "baseless stunt" that's "not rooted in facts or reality but in extreme House Republicans’ shameless desire to abuse their power to smear President Biden."

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said that he believes Republicans have the votes to approve the resolution. He alleged this week that the White House has been "stonewalling" Republicans' impeachment inquiry so a vote on the resolution to authorize has become "a necessary constitutional step."

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Thursday that he’s confident that Republicans have the votes to formally authorize the inquiry next week.

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told NBC News that he believes he is the only GOP no vote for authorizing the impeachment inquiry; he hasn’t heard from any colleagues who plan to join him.

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House Republicans gear up to launch formal impeachment inquiry into Biden

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House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who has been accusing the Biden family of engaging in shady business practices, recently said that GOP support to move forward with the impeachment inquiry solidified during the Thanksgiving break — when caucus members went home and "heard from people at Walmart, people on Main Street who were like, 'Find out the truth about Joe Biden’s knowledge and involvement in his family shady business.'"

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In September, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., instructed the three committees to obtain bank records and other documents from the president and his son Hunter Biden.

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The Oversight Committee has insisted that it has financial documents that, it alleges, show that members of the Biden family established over 20 shell companies, most during Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president, that were part of an effort to obscure payments from foreign adversaries.

House Republicans issued subpoenas last month focused on the Biden family's business dealings. They requested Hunter Biden; James Biden, the president’s brother; and Rob Walker, a Biden family associate, to appear for depositions. Those subpoenas came a day after the special counsel overseeing an investigation into Hunter Biden testified before the Judiciary Committee behind closed doors.

White House counsel Richard Sauber slammed the subpoenas as “unjustified,” writing in a letter that the “requests were sent despite the fact that, after a year of investigating, voluminous records and testimony from dozens of witnesses have refuted your baseless allegations about the President.”