House Republicans delay efforts to impeach Biden
Reese Gorman Cami Mondeaux
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The House voted on Thursday to refer a motion from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) to impeach President Joe Biden to the House Homeland Security Committee, stalling efforts from the Colorado Republican to charge the president with high crimes and misdemeanors.
Boebert introduced the privileged resolution earlier this week, triggering a House mechanism that would force a vote on the motion within two days. However, the Colorado Republican later walked back her efforts after it became clear she did not have the votes needed to advance the measure, especially after GOP leadership came out against the resolution.
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The House voted 219-208 along party lines to combine the resolution with a separate effort to investigate whether the conduct of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas amounts to an impeachable offense, delaying a final vote to charge Biden. However, the referral vote avoids the chance of Democrats being able to table the motion altogether, which looked like a possible outcome after several Republican members objected to the effort.
“Just a week or so ago, we started our five phases. We’re well into phase one, dereliction of duty on Mayorkas,” Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said before the vote. “The House looks like it is going to ask us to take a look at President Biden’s actions in regard to this, and we will do so. We will dig deeply into it. I take very seriously our oversight responsibility, and we’re going to hold people accountable.”
The articles introduced by Boebert sought to impeach Biden on two charges, including one count of abuse of power and one count of dereliction of duty. The motion came as Boebert accused the president of facilitating a “complete and total invasion at the southern border” by ending a slew of Trump-era immigration policies after taking office, including the Title 42 policy lifted last month. That COVID-19-era rule allowed Border Patrol agents to expel immigrants immediately upon encountering them.
The motion comes less than one month after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced her own articles of impeachment against Biden, angering the Georgia Republican, who accused Boebert of copying her legislation for fundraising purposes.
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“She didn’t talk to anyone about it. She didn’t come to the conference,” Greene said. “She didn’t address it with anybody. She copied my articles of impeachment — she refused to co-sponsor mine, then copied them, and then turned hers into a privilege resolution.”
It’s unclear if the House will move forward with the similar legislation from Greene or what evidence committee members would need to uncover to recommend impeachment charges against Biden.