The House GOP’s recently announced impeachment inquiry into President Biden is spooking Sen. John Fetterman.
Not precisely.
“Oh my God, really? “My God, it’s devastating,” Fetterman (D-Pa.) said mockingly with some laughter Tuesday when asked about the news. “Oooh, don’t do it, please don’t do it.”
Wearing a button-down shirt and his trademark oversized shorts in a Congressional hallway, the Pennsylvania senator made it clear that he is not taking the investigation seriously.
Fetterman, who was diagnosed with a speech and auditory processing disability after a stroke in May 2022, seemed surprisingly eloquent in his response.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he is directing House committees to launch an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
“House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations about President Biden’s conduct” in foreign dealings involving his family, including his son Hunter, McCarthy said. “Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) didn’t seem too nervous Tuesday about the impeachment push against his party’s leader, President Biden.SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry into Biden on Tuesday.AP Photo/J. Scott Apple White
“Through our investigations, we have discovered that President Biden lied to the American people about his own knowledge of his family’s foreign businesses,” he added.
McCarthy’s announcement apparently irritates his previous public commitment to holding a floor vote to launch any impeachment inquiry.
He told Breitbart earlier this month: “If we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would come through a vote in the House of People and not through a statement from a single person.”
Fetterman in the Capitol building with a photo of fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey on Sept. 12, 2023. He laughed and pleaded with McCarthy to “please don’t do it” when asked about the impeachment inquiry. SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The speaker also previously criticized his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), for launching an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump without a floor vote.
Since then, a handful of House Republicans have come out against an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
McCarthy later defended the apparent change of heart, telling reporters that “Pelosi has changed the rules of the House.” [and] “We are simply complying.”
Both Biden and the White House have vehemently rejected GOP accusations of wrongdoing by the president.
McCarthy has faced intense internal disputes from his small majority group in the House of Representatives.REUTERS
“House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months and have found no evidence of wrongdoing,” said White House spokesman Ian Sams.
“[McCarthy’s] Members of the Republican Party themselves have said it. “He promised to hold a vote to open the impeachment trial, but now he has stepped back because he has no support: extreme politics at its worst,” he added.
On the House side, Republicans generally applauded the development.
Republicans have long criticized the Biden family’s foreign business dealings, including those involving the president’s son, Hunter. AP
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Col.), who has openly opposed an impeachment inquiry in the past, called McCarthy’s move a “good idea” because it leaves aside a “distraction” for Republicans as they contemplate a fight for government shutdown. according to an NBC reporter.
“Republicans must unite around the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. The American people deserve to know the truth about their decades of corruption,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on social media.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Penn.) weighed in: “I think the impeachment inquiry is long overdue.”
He later emphasized that the impeachment itself “should not be done for political reasons.” An investigation differs from a formal impeachment trial in that it is only one investigative step.
On the Senate side, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected.
“I have no advice to give to the House. They have a totally different set of challenges,” he stated. “So I think the best advice for the Senate is to do our job and we’ll see how it plays out.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized the investigation as a “witch hunt.”
“I have sympathy for President McCarthy. He is in a difficult position. But sometimes you have to tell these people that they are very out of line,” Schumer said. “They can’t go ahead with this.”
With the impeachment inquiry, congressional Republicans find themselves with greater firepower to subpoena witnesses and documents in their investigation.
McCarthy himself has publicly sought Biden’s banking records.
The president has faced enormous pressure from his right flank to launch an investigation while juggling a budget battle, with just 11 days on the congressional calendar until the government shutdown in early October.
The House was in session Tuesday after a six-week recess.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn