House Republicans set off an avalanche of Biden probes — but not without peril

“After retaking the House majority this year, the GOP is using its platform to do all it can to scrutinize the Biden administration,” Vox writes. “Already, lawmakers have held hearings on border security,Twitter’s handling of a story related to Hunter Biden’s laptop, and alleged biases that the federal government has against conservatives.”

For anyone feeling they’re missing out on the breathless flurry of Republican attacks, the Vox report offers an exhaustive breakdown. Beyond those initial hearings, the magazine describes probes including: the discovery of classified documents at Biden’s home and elsewhere; the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan; the origins of COVID-19 and the Biden Administration’s response to it; U.S. China policy and the Chinese balloon drama; and fraud in pandemic relief funds.

Vox cited experts who laid out the risks and rewards to the GOP:

“Many of these inquiries are dedicated to damaging the president, a strategy that’s tried and true. In a study of 53 years of congressional investigations, political scientists Douglas Kriner and Eric Schickler found that the more time Congress spent on hearings into potential executive branch misconduct, the lower the president’s approval rating became. Per their study, if lawmakers spent 20 days per month on investigative hearings, the president’s approval rating would see a commensurate decline of 2.5 percent in that timeframe.

“Kriner notes that this trend is historical; it may not hold as the public has gotten more polarized in recent years and media ecosystems more siloed. But if a similar dynamic emerged ahead of 2024, Republican investigations might hurt Biden’s already-low approval ratings.

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“As members of the House majority, Republicans have gained key powers and a bigger platform to make their case. Now, GOP lawmakers are able to subpoena witnesses and documents, as well as hold public hearings in the hopes of generating news coverage and viral moments that cast Biden and his policies in a critical light. In the process, however, Republicans also run the risk of backlash from moderate members and voters if they go too far with their rhetoric.”

And it added this: “Democrats, obviously, see things differently. “It’s a phony operation from beginning to end designed to further their partisan political interests,” Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, told Vox.”