On Wednesday, House Republicans had a tense floor debate with their own colleague, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), over her decision to hold a vote to impeach President Biden.
The party’s top leaders urged its members to vote against Boebert’s resolution when it comes to the floor this week.
“We don’t want to rush to impeachment,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy R-Calif) told reporters. “You’ve got to go through the process, you’ve got to have the investigation. Throwing something on the floor actually harms the investigation that we’re doing right now.”
McCarthy had called Boebert Tuesday to ask her to talk to the closed-door GOP conference meeting about her impeachment resolution before forcing a vote — but she chose to make the privileged motion instead. Meanwhile, on Steve Bannon’s show Wednesday morning, Boebert defended her resolution, saying she had heard no action from the committees investigating the Biden family’s business dealings.
“I would love for committees to do the work, but I haven’t seen the work be done on this particular subject,” she said. “This, I’m hoping, generates enthusiasm with the base to contact their members of Congress and say ‘we want something done while you have the majority.'”
At the same meeting, McCarthy reportedly argued that the Republicans’ previous censure of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) showed how dangerous it was to rush into another impeachment.
“We’re going to turn around the next day and do try to do the same thing that Schiff did? I just don’t think that’s honest,” he said.
House Republicans then spent Wednesday criticizing Boebert’s move for its implication on their credibility as a party. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said that “this shouldn’t be playground games” and added that “just doing this is wrong”. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) warned that it “actually undermines efforts to hold people accountable in the future.”
Not all Republicans were critical of Boebert, however. Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) lessened the heat by making a case for Boebert’s resolution, arguing that lawmakers should have the freedom to represent their district.
“Regular order also includes individual members being able to represent their districts,” he said.
No matter the outcome of the vote, it’s likely that lawmakers know that the power of impeachment must be taken seriously if any sort of trust is to be established between the parties. Whether it is their own party member or anyone else, House Republicans agree: it is in everyone’s best interest to pursue the investigation through the regular order.