Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to officially start looking into Joe Biden, which could lead to him being removed from office.
It can be tough to quit.
Three out of the four times in the past, the House decided to impeach after taking this step. The only time it didn’t happen was because Richard Nixon quit before a vote could happen.
Republicans say that the president got advantages from his family’s business in other countries, even though they haven’t shown any clear proof yet.
In the short term, the House’s decision gives the investigating committees more authority to ask for documents and testimony and for judges to make sure those requests are followed. The Biden White House didn’t give some information because there was no formal vote, but now they might have to.
In the end, this vote could make it possible for House Republicans, who don’t have a big majority, to support impeachment in early 2024.
They have agreed to continue the process. If moderate Republicans in areas that voted for Biden in 2020 are going to be blamed for starting the investigation, they might decide it’s best to finish it.
The issue would go to the Senate, where the Democrats are in charge. It would need a two-thirds majority vote to find the president guilty and remove him from office.
No president in US history has ever reached that high standard. Some Republicans are worried that the vote on Wednesday shows that the impeachment process is being made less important.
Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman and current Republican running for president, was one of the people who argued against Mr. Clinton during his trial in 1999.
“He told the BBC that impeachment should only be used for very serious crimes. ” “That’s how the people who started our country made it. ” We don’t want to get into the back-and-forth argument between the two political parties about removing the president from the other side. “It’s a problem. ”
Worries or problems were not the most important thing on Wednesday. The investigations will keep going as we get closer to the November 2024 presidential election.
Republicans have always seen Joe Biden’s son Hunter as a problem for his father in politics. “If they can show that his business and personal behavior are connected to the president, they could hurt Joe Biden’s reputation with American voters. ”
A serious investigation to impeach Mr. Biden could cause big problems for him during the election. This is still true even if Republicans don’t have any solid proof connecting the president to his son’s wrongdoing.
We can’t predict what unexpected things will happen during this investigation. Although there is no proof directly connecting Mr. Biden to his son’s problems at work and in his personal life, having a lot of power can lead to unexpected outcomes.
Bill Clinton was in trouble for lying about having a relationship with a person who worked for him. It all started with an investigation into a real estate deal that went wrong. Hillary Clinton’s email server issue started because of an investigation into the death of a US ambassador in Libya.
Sometimes when people go fishing, they catch a fish.
If nothing is found, people might still think Biden is corrupt, which could hurt his reputation.
Republicans might use impeachment and Hunter Biden’s legal issues to distract from the legal troubles of their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
People are discussing when to start the impeachment process to distract from a possible federal trial for Trump in March. He is being charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election.
In a country where people already don’t like politicians, the upcoming election next year might make things even worse.