Republican House will investigate Biden admin: McCarthy

House Republicans will launch sweeping investigations of Democratic President Joe Biden's administration if they recapture the chamber as expected in Tuesday's midterm election, Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said.

McCarthy, in an interview with CNN, said potential probes included the US pullout from Afghanistan and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also left the door open to an eventual impeachment effort, a move which has been advocated by some of the more extreme right-wing members of the party.

"We will never use impeachment for political purposes," McCarthy said. "That doesn't mean if something rises to the occasion, it would not be used at any other time."

The 57-year-old congressman from California is expected to replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House of Representatives if Republicans seize control of the chamber in the midterms.

McCarthy said he was confident Republicans will win enough seats to gain a majority and he believes his bid for the speaker's gavel has the support of former president Donald Trump.

"I think Trump will be very supportive," he said.

Trump was impeached twice by the Democratically-controlled House, but he was acquitted in the Senate and remains the Republican Party's leading figure.

McCarthy also told CNN that securing the US-Mexico border, reining in inflation and cutting government spending would be priorities for a Republican-controlled House.

"The first thing you'll see is a bill to control the border," he said. "You've had almost two million people just this year alone coming across."

© Agence France-Presse