Johnson plans vote on impeachment inquiry, predicting unanimous GOP support

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday promised a floor vote to authorize a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, hoping to provide legal heft to an investigation that has been underway for months but has so far failed to prove Republicans’ claims that Biden accepted bribes.

Republicans have for months avoided scheduling such a vote, lacking support from some mainstream members who were reluctant to endorse a formal impeachment inquiry without any concrete evidence the president committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

But Johnson said Tuesday that all Republicans could now feel comfortable voting to formalize the ongoing inquiry because doing so merely continues an investigation and does not assert any wrongdoing by the president worthy of impeachment.

“This vote is not a vote to impeach President Biden,” Johnson said at a news conference. “This is a vote to continue the inquiry of impeachment, and that’s a necessary constitutional step. I believe we’ll get every vote that we have.”

An aide to Johnson said he planned to call the vote next week, but he cautioned that the schedule remained fluid.

Johnson suggested the vote was necessary for the investigation to be considered legitimate, citing a Nov. 17 letter from Richard Sauber, a special counsel to Biden. Sauber condemned the inquiry and said that recent subpoenas and demands for congressional testimony from the former White House counsel, White House aides and Biden family members were “irresponsible.”

“You also claim the mantle of an ‘impeachment inquiry’ knowing full well that the Constitution requires that the full House authorize an impeachment inquiry before a committee may utilize compulsory process pursuant to the impeachment power — a step the Republican House majority has so far refused to take,” Sauber wrote.

Republicans have engaged in wide-ranging inquiry into Biden for months, hunting for evidence to back up their allegations that he corruptly profited from his family members’ overseas business dealings and accepted bribes. To date, they have failed to deliver compelling evidence to back up their boldest claims.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.