House Republicans are launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, but individual lawmakers are divided over how long that should take and whether a full vote on impeachment was inevitable.
While some Republicans seem ready to vote on impeachment immediately, many GOP lawmakers are also skeptical that an inquiry was justified by evidence that's already been turned up by the House Oversight Committee, reported CNN.
“There has to be an aha moment.” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who serves on the House Judiciary Committee but previously led the Oversight Committee. “We certainly see what one might fairly call bribes or unfair enrichment by Hunter Biden. But the actual participation by the vice president and now president – that still has to be discovered and or nailed down, either for direct participation or knowing participation or receipt of funds.”
“Nobody’s asserting that any of those three are ready," he added. "If they were, then articles of impeachment would contain those already.”
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Republicans disagree on the timeline for issuing subpoenas and conducting the inquiry, and they're still divided over holding a formal vote to authorize the probe, but House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) vowed to "keep going" until they found the evidence they needed.
“We’re just going to continue to do our work," Jordan said, "but we think that as we enter this phase, it helps us in court if we have to go to court."
Some lawmakers would prefer a slow-moving investigation to broaden public and legislative support for impeachment, saying there should be no artificial deadline for the inquiry.
“What we’re going to do is do it the right way,” said Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL). “We want to make sure that we have every single piece of evidence.”
But others would prefer a much quicker investigation into the president and his son Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.
“Hopefully it won’t last that long," said Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection. "I don’t want to see this drag out forever. Just for expediency so you know we can move on to other things.”
Several GOP lawmakers believe the investigation could be wrapped up quickly and brought for a vote on impeaching the president.
“I think we could do it all in a week, do the inquiry and hold the vote if we have enough to vote to do it, send it to Judiciary and let Jim Jordan’s committee handle it," said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN).
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is among a handful of Republican hardliners who say an impeachment vote can't come soon enough, and he's applying intense pressure to House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to make sure that happens.
“Frankly, my concern is the lack of an inevitability there," said Gaetz, who serves on the Judiciary Commmittee. "We’ve seen a history with Kevin McCarthy, where when his own power is jeopardized he gaslights an impeachment that will never be. I think Joe Biden deserves impeachment, no question about that. We may be forcing some votes on it in the coming days and weeks.”
