McCarthy Dismisses Boebert’s ‘Premature’ Biden Impeachment Effort

Topline

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) denounced an effort by far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) to impeach President Joe Biden Wednesday—the latest GOP rift to expose divisions within the conference.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., attends an event hosted by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., at the Capitol in … [+] Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

Key Facts

Boebert introduced a privileged motion on Tuesday that would force a vote on a resolution she proposed last week to impeach Biden, arguing he has lost control of the southern border: “every Member of Congress must vote on holding Joe Biden accountable,” she tweeted in announcing the measure.

McCarthy criticized Boebert’s move Wednesday, telling reporters “to prematurely bring something up like that, to have no background in it, it undercuts what we’re doing,” he said.

He appeared to be referencing the House’s planned vote Wednesday to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for leading congressional investigations into Trump’s conduct, in which Schiff “abused his privilege,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who sponsored the censure resolution.

The speaker also urged Republicans inside a closed-door conference meeting earlier Wednesday to vote alongside Democrats to table the resolution, CNN reported, citing sources who were present.

McCarthy’s rebuke comes after multiple Republicans told reporters earlier Wednesday that they also opposed the resolution, pointing to the lack of evidence to merit such a serious measure.

Chief Critic

“Things like impeachment are one of the most awesome powers of the Congress, it’s not something you should flippantly exercise in two days,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) told reporters. “And I think that it actually undermines efforts to hold people accountable in the future.”

Contra

Several right-wing Republicans told CNN they planned to vote for the resolution anyway, including Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), who has an ongoing rivalry with Boebert and has also introduced resolutions to impeach Biden and several members of his cabinet. “She basically copied my articles,” Greene told CNN. “So of course I support them, because they’re identical to mine.”

Tangent

Boebert’s motion for an impeachment vote came hours after the Justice Department announced the president’s son, Hunter Biden, a frequent GOP target, had accepted a plea deal in its long-running probe into his background. Boebert and other Republicans blasted the agreement as a “sweetheart deal” and “slap on the wrist” while accusing the agency of treating former President Donald Trump unfairly compared to Hunter Biden.

Key Background

The impeachment debate is the latest to divide House Republicans, who narrowly control the chamber 222-213, giving the right-wing Freedom Caucus outsized power to block priorities backed by the majority of their conference as a negotiating tactic to push through their own demands. They exercised their muscle in the January speaker’s race, when multiple right-wing members refused to back McCarthy during the first 14 rounds of voting until he conceded to their demands, which included giving rank-and-file members more power, cutting federal spending and rolling back Biden’s key policy priorities. As retaliation for the debt ceiling deal McCarthy negotiated with Biden earlier this month, House Freedom Caucus members who believed the agreement did not go far enough in cutting federal spending, brought House proceedings to a halt, voting alongside Democrats to block GOP-backed legislation from advancing to the floor. McCarthy placated them after several days by agreeing to reduce spending in the fiscal year 2023 budget negotiations.