Gone Fishing

Will the House GOP’s impeachment effort backfire?

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy talks with reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, September 13, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The problem with taking House Republicans’ new impeachment inquiry seriously is that it requires taking House Republicans seriously.

That’s hard. And not just for those of us who’ve grown hostile toward the party.

I was chatting a few days ago with relatives who watch Fox News avidly and was surprised when one commented that Kevin McCarthy’s conference … doesn’t seem to do much. In fairness, there’s not much the conference can do legislatively while government is divided. But even by those low expectations, even to loyal viewers of a GOP propaganda outlet, it’s begun to sink in that the new House majority appears less than deadly serious about formulating workable policy.

I thought of that on Wednesday morning as news trickled out of the speaker’s meeting with his members about the impending government shutdown.

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  1. John

    As I commented elsewhere, we should just admit who we are as a nation with a Constitution Amendment n "Proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitution
    Whereas the citizens of the United States who voted for the citizen who did not win the Presidential Election can not trust the citizen who did win the election to have unimpeachable character, the United States House of Representatives will begin Impeachment hearings on that citizen the day after said citizen is inaugurated President of the United States. The party of which the President is not a member will have complete and unrestricted control of this investigation until such time as the President can no longer hold the office of President under the Constitution of the United States."
    This is the standard we the people have set for our nation.

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  2. Wsampson

    Is that enough to justify an impeachment inquiry? Probably not - - -really? I know - write to the audience

    trump was impeached after the mueller report (large, long with evidence) and the phone call

    this inquiry is like with Clinton - we will investigate till we find something (blow job vs. whitewater)

    no comparison GOP congress is filled with criminals with strong evidence of sedition, but nothing happens and no one writes about it

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      Jconstantino199

      The thing that bothers me about this is that Bill Barr. during Trump's first impeachment in 2019, issued a memorandum stating that any impeachment inquiry is illegitimate without a vote of the full House to authorize it. This was the view that Kevin McCarthy held both in 2019 (when HE was the one to ask Barr to rule on this requirement) and as recently as this Sept. 1st, when he claimed that such a vote would be held.

      Now, when it's obvious that any such vote would fail in the House, McCarthy is suddenly claiming that a vote is unnecessary? Pure hypocrisy.

      The fact that there isn't even enough evidence to get a successful *vote* on an inquiry shows that not even McCarthy believes that this anything other than cynical political theater.

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  3. Andrew M

    I would argue Democrats were not playing "hardball" with their impeachments of Trump. If they wanted to put pressure on Republicans to convict Trump for Jan 6, then they wouldn't have wasted all the time with the whole 25th amendment stuff, and impeached him for dereliction of duty as soon as they learned that it was Pence, not Trump, who authorized deploying the National Guard to defend Congress.

    Try and convince anyone that wasn't a violation of his oath of office and responsibilities as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States by not using his authority to protect the legislature from rioters.

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  4. Ken Motamed

    "If the election ends up as a referendum on Trump anyway despite Republicans’ best efforts, impeaching Biden will have been a costless endeavor."

    But if Biden's impeachment is done on Trump's behest, why would it not have an electoral cost by reflecting negatively on Trump?

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    Anne W (Raw5254)

    I used to be offended when people on the left here trashed the Republicans (although I’d still say it’s not all Republicans, just as they like to tell me, it’s not all Democrats). In most cases, I think we’re talking about the parties. Now I mostly find myself nodding in agreement. How much more can they disappoint me? I’m afraid to ask.

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      WKDawson

      Well, we shouldn't be doing the same. As David French has ardently said many times, leadership is setting a good example. Whether you're a NT or an OT type, it is all "following a multitude to do evil" in the end. On the other hand, I must admit that I cannot help but be angry about all the shenanigans.

      Hunter should have thought about what he was doing. It is bizarrely selfish what he and some other members of the Biden family did, though not something that is unlike what family members of the rest of the power-hungry clowns in Congress do. Where is the reticence? If you actually love your family, you just don't do this kind of nonsense just because you can.

      On the flip side. ... I can get the suspicion here for Rs, but I would wager a few points.

      on Joe Biden using an alias. ...

      Perhaps the Orange Menace is an exception, but I would guess almost all people who are famous or work in rather powerful positions of government use aliases (the CIA, the Justice Department, politicians, etc.). Otherwise, someone steals an iPhone of a contact, and the thief has your name in bright shining letters. Would that be smart of the director of the CIA should some clever Russian or Chinese spy casing a contact got hold of such personal information? Obviously, Joe Biden might have used aliases to cover his tracks, but, in the current context, it seems hyperbolic. It could simply be the sensible thing to do because Joe Biden doesn't want to have to end up being an easy target in a "phishing" expedition. Why is that so difficult to understand?

      The second thing is the daily conversations ...

      Hunter is clearly messed up. His behavior has been that of a jerk and a scumbag. There is no denying that. However, just as God provides us jerks and scumbags with his sunshine, so too do parents care about their kids and do their best. You can pick your friends, but you cannot pick your family. How many times have we tried to use God as a surrogate for our own purposes? I'm not sure I would be so gracious to my children if they behaved like Hunter, so maybe I should take old Joe's example. Moreover, Hunter does seem a bit self-destructive and possibly suicidal. I should consider that they are still my children whatever they do. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God. We should do the same.

      Again, it's possible that it was all a secret collusion and Joe Biden is the ringleader of a criminal gang, but the whole thing sounds absurd to me. More likely, after years and years of fishing, maybe Joe Biden might be found to have pocketed $10, and they will make him out to be the grand embezzler. I think if they examine themselves and their lust for power, most of them all know they have done exactly the same nonsense themselves, so this whole thing looks pretty shameful and disingenuous to me, presently.

      .

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        Anne W (Raw5254)

        Thanks for your thoughtful response. When I read it in my email, I thought, “now what did I say?!” It’s complicated, and I see some reasoning for the behavior on both sides. Maybe it’s the timing that gets to me. I think there’s probably more there re Hunter’s financial dealings, but now it seems as though both sides are using indictments and impeachments as convenient tools.

        However, it’s hard for me to blame the Democrats for going after Trump, but it’s also maddening that their indictments seem like scatter shot. He’s been his own worst enemy; he can’t keep his boastful, arrogant mouth shut. He isn’t qualified to be POTUS, and there’s no way I want that narcissistic crook to win a second time. As for Biden, go ahead and investigate. Something smells fishy, but IMO there isn’t enough evidence to impeach, and Republican’s just come off as wanting to get even.

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  6. Russell J

    I’m first to say this impeachment business is premature. For the right President, he could just be transparent and by showing nothing seriously out of line, humiliate the opposition. Not sure Biden has that ability, but it is a way to eventually break the back-and-forth impeachments. If something is uncovered, no idea where this goes.

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  7. J. Everett Schubert

    At this point, when will we have a President of either party who WON'T be impeached, provided that they have a divided government at some point in the presidency? It has devolved from being the gravest of matters to a silly back-and-forth tit-for-tat.*

    Who was the last President who didn't face at least chatter about impeachment? George H.W. Bush?

    *Caveat: The first Trump impeachment was on dubious grounds, but the second one was 1000% deserved and necessary.

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  8. Dnels

    One factor I think Nick didn't mention in talking about impeachments effects on the R's is one he mentioned at the start, the effect of a government shutdown. Absent a shutdown he may be right that there is no downside to impeaching Biden, but choosing to screw around with inquiries without evidence while R's can't get their s*** together long enough to perform their basic jobs is going to be a huge negative to anyone not totally in the tank for Trumpism. Tack on the impeachment vote (and Senate acquittal), and the Dobbs effect and there can be significant headwinds next year. That also leaves out the effect of having the R presidential candidate spending more time in court than on the campaign trail and having court testimony repeated nightly on the news. In a country that still gave a damn, that would be pretty insurmountable even running against Biden.

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    Normb1442

    I think Nick has pretty much nailed it as far as McCarthy's reasoning is concerned. The entire purpose of the impeachment investigation (plus an actual impeachment if they go that route) is to muddy the waters into "they're both corrupt." We're about to be treated to hearings and news bits about the most trivial "evidence," all to keep the story on the airwaves until next November.

    But the sticking point is if McCarthy is going to cut a deal with the Democrats to get necessary spending bills passed, all it takes is enough Democrats who say "why should we bail out somebody whose only way of preventing a handful of clowns from shutting down the government is to beg for our votes?" What is McCarthy supposed to say to that -- "the Democrats, not us, are responsible for the shutdown because they wouldn't give me their votes to pass a bill which MY PARTY put in jeopardy in the first place?" I don't see how that's going to play when government checks stop coming to people who have earned them.

    The shutdown, if it happens, WILL be blamed on the Republicans. And that alone should be enough to spell doom for Trump in the general election. After all, to a voter who is open to reasonable argumentation, even if "they ARE both corrupt," why should I vote for the one whose political allies shut down the government?"

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  10. Mike Gaudino

    This whole impeachment horse manure is just crazy. It has nothing to do with crime and punishment . There’s no judge ; no jury; just a bunch of political hacks trying to make a political point.Despite David French’s attempt to “rank “ the last four impeachments, none of them seem as they rise to an impeachable offense. In all cases , the questionable acts are immoral, unethical, , despicable .The consequences for the offender should be at the ballot box; or as it is for Trump, ( and maybe Biden) in the criminal justice system

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