House Republicans released their bogus impeachment report on President Joe Biden on Aug. 19, hoping to distract from the display of joy and unity on the first day of the Democratic National Convention. GOP leaders—and plenty of Republicans in vulnerable House seats—wanted that to be the end of it, but the extremists in the conference don’t agree and could try to force a vote. That’s got Democrats popping their popcorn, ready for the show.
When the report was released, House Speaker Mike Johnson simply stated that he hoped everyone would read it and thanked the committees for their work. He didn’t say anything about what would happen next, suggesting he just wants the partisan and sloppy attempt to nail the Biden “crime family” to go away. That way, Republicans won’t have to take an embarrassing vote to impeach Biden that would surely fail.
But Johnson immediately heard back from the peanut gallery. The House hard-liners are getting ready to raise hell, and the rest of the GOP is starting to freak out over the possibility that one of the troublemakers is going to try to force the vote when the House reconvenes in September.
It takes just one member to force a vote via a privileged resolution, a procedure that has been vexing leadership since Republicans took control of the House. The likeliest suspects to force a vote, Axios hears from its sources, are ultra-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Andy Biggs of Arizona, and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.
The rest of the GOP accepts reality: Forcing a vote would be a distraction at best, and would more likely piss off voters. It could very well motivate progressive voters to turn out for downballot Democrats running against vulnerable Republicans, and would make MAGA voters mad at any GOP representatives who vote against it. It is absolutely a lose-lose scenario for Republicans, and Democrats are totally here for it.
“The whole investigation has been a debacle for them, they have egg all over their face,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told Axios. Have the vote, he says, and “either prove that all of them are invested in this nonsense, or that they can’t even … get all the Republicans in the House to vote for it.”
“If they actually take it to a vote, then individual [Republican] members are going to be politically punished,” he added.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida has one message for the House hard-liners: Bring it on.
“Call the vote. They should do that. That vote is a paved road to the minority,” Moskowitz said, noting that there are plenty of Republicans who “have never wanted to do the vote.” But if GOP House members do vote for impeachment, he continued, Senate Democrats should “call their bluff” and have a trial. “We should make them own it, every day on TV.”
“If they want to show that their top issue is impeaching Joe Biden, a lame-duck president, then we should make them own it. We’re not going to go on the defense, we’re going to go on the offense,” Moskowitz said.
That’s just one more headache for Johnson. He’s already facing rebellious opposition from his own members to the one task Congress must complete in three short September weeks: funding the government. Having to vote on impeachment—and further roiling up his fractured conference—will only make his job harder.
September is shaping up to be a nightmare for Johnson, which is just what he deserves.
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So, will the GOP go through with the impeachment vote or back down in fear of the consequences? Either way, it seems like the Democrats are ready to capitalize on the chaos for their benefit. Let the political theater begin!
