House Republicans' impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has so far failed to turn up concrete evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors, and Politico's Playbook is reporting that the GOP is now looking for an "off-ramp."
According to the publications sources, "Republicans of all ideological persuasions are increasingly admitting that they pulled the trigger on Biden’s impeachment too soon and that the effort has been hobbled by embarrassing setbacks."
Among other things, the GOP's star witness who alleged wrongdoing by Biden was indicted last month for allegedly fabricating the allegations. What's more, the much-hyped congressional testimony from Hunter Biden failed to produce any additional evidence for Republicans to advance the impeachment inquiry further.
Given this, Republicans are now plotting backup plans in lieu of impeachments that include potential criminal referrals to the DOJ for Hunter Biden and perhaps even the president himself; legislative reforms that would clamp down on influence peddling by politicians' family members; and assorted lawsuits aimed at turning up more potentially incriminating documents.
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That said, Republicans seem to understand that their base will be disappointed by such options, which is why they're debating holding a vote on impeaching Biden even if such a vote is doomed to fail.
"The base is going to demand it," Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said recently.
But that notion is getting pushback from other Republicans who say a failed impeachment vote would be worse than having no impeachment vote at all.
"That’s not a vote you put on the floor if you don’t have a chance of passing it," said Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND).
Former President Donald Trump, the GOP's presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, has been demanding the party impeach Biden.
During his own presidency, Trump became the first president in American history to have been impeached on two separate occasions, with the second impeachment garnering a bipartisan coalition of 57 votes favoring his conviction.
