Historic House Vote on Formalizing Impeachment Inquiry into President Joe Biden

House Republicans are set to vote on Wednesday to make the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden official, as their investigation reaches a crucial point and right-wing pressure mounts.

The vote coincides with a possible showdown between House Republicans and Hunter Biden, as the president's son has been subpoenaed to testify in a closed-door deposition in Washington, DC. It remains uncertain whether Hunter Biden will comply and answer questions from lawmakers as part of the intensified impeachment inquiry.

House Republicans have lacked sufficient votes to officially authorize their ongoing inquiry through a full chamber vote. The investigation has faced challenges in finding evidence of wrongdoing by the president, resulting in a lack of unified support from the entire GOP conference. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy initiated the inquiry in September, despite having criticized Democrats for a similar approach in 2019 when they launched the first impeachment probe of then-President Donald Trump without an initial vote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team are now assured that they have the necessary support to secure the vote when it reaches the floor on Wednesday. This is partly due to the White House informing the trio of GOP-led congressional committees that their subpoenas were not valid without a formal House vote authorizing the inquiry. As a result, more moderate Republican lawmakers began to support their party's investigative efforts. The Trump administration had made a similar argument against House Democrats during the beginning of his 2019 impeachment.

Multiple GOP lawmakers and aides argue that a floor vote will enhance their legal position against the White House and bolster their subpoenas to obtain crucial witness testimony, according to Republican proponents of the effort.

"The inquiry will provide us with better information," stated GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents a swing district in New York, in an interview with CNN.

The GOP inquiry could be strengthened by the tax indictment against Hunter Biden from last week, which covers many of the alleged financial imports and overseas business deals that Republicans have been closely investigating. In response to accusations of stonewalling the inquiry, a recent White House memo highlighted that Republicans have obtained over 35,000 pages of private financial records, more than 2,000 pages of Treasury Department financial reports, conducted at least 36 hours of witness interviews, and just this week began receiving 62,000 more pages from the National Archives, including a significant portion of Joe Biden's communications as vice president.

One Republican lawmaker is not fully committed to the vote to formalize the inquiry. GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, who has been critical of his party's inquiry into the president, stated on Tuesday, "I'm leaning no." Despite the majority of House Republicans supporting the inquiry vote, GOP leadership has emphasized that formalizing the inquiry does not guarantee the president will be impeached, despite mounting pressure within the party and among the Republican base.

Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that they would not prejudge the outcome of the situation because it's not within their control. He emphasized that they are following the law and are committed to upholding the rule of law. Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, reiterated Johnson's perspective by stating that voting in favor of an impeachment inquiry does not automatically mean impeachment.

GOP Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida has been urging Republicans to impeach the president. He told CNN that House Republicans are hesitant because they do not have enough votes to impeach the president, especially with their diminishing majority.

Moderate GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who supports authorizing an impeachment inquiry, believes that it is unlikely that Republicans will ultimately bring articles of impeachment against the president. He argues that the evidence does not meet the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors required for impeachment. Meanwhile, some Republican members are eager to move forward with the process despite caution from party leaders.

GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas told CNN that he believes an inquiry will begin and wouldn't be surprised if impeachment follows. House Democrats and the White House have consistently denied and at times disproven the accusations made by Republicans, who have attempted to link Joe Biden to his son's lucrative international business deals.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee from Maryland, criticized the Republican push for an impeachment inquiry. He stated that the House Republicans are attempting to cast a negative shadow over the president as he heads into the next year's election.

Since beginning the inquiry in September, McCarthy and the trio of committees leading the investigation have interviewed various officials from the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service. They have also obtained numerous documents and new bank records, including those from Biden family members. Despite issuing new subpoenas and scheduling more depositions, including with the president's brother and son, Republicans have still not found credible evidence to support their claims against Biden. There has only been one hearing related to the inquiry since its launch, where expert witnesses called by Republicans acknowledged that the evidence presented so far was insufficient to prove the accusations against Biden.

In the lead-up to Wednesdays vote, each of the three committees, leading a different portion of the inquiry had sought to build momentum.