After nearly two years, the Republican effort to impeach President Joe Biden can be declared dead.
Lawmakers took their last votes of the week on Wednesday afternoon and are not scheduled to return to session until November 12, the week after the 2024 election.
While it’s technically possible Republicans would attempt to impeach Biden in the final months of his presidency, it’s highly unlikely. By that point, either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will be president-elect, and the bulk of Washington’s attention will be on preparing for the new administration. Plus, Biden’s decision to drop out of the race had already rendered the president a lame duck.
“I think it’s too late,” said Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, a member of the House Oversight Committee that led the impeachment inquiry. “I think he’s impeached himself.”
The impeachment effort, based on the notion that Biden financially benefited from his son Hunter’s business dealings, had long petered out before this month.
While Republicans were able to maintain unanimity in voting to authorize an impeachment inquiry last December, they never appeared to have the necessary votes to impeach Biden. Along the way, key aspects of the investigation were discredited, including when a former FBI informant whose testimony had been widely cited was charged in February with lying to the agency.
In August, a trio of House committees released a nearly 300-page report on the inquiry. It ultimately garnered little attention, with House Speaker Mike Johnson issuing a statement that simply encouraged “all Americans to read this report.”
Despite that, it seemed possible that Republicans may be forced to vote on impeachment before the election. Last year, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado tried to use a procedural maneuver to force an impeachment vote over Biden’s handling of the southern border, and it didn’t seem out of the question for another hard-right lawmaker to pull such a move.
Republicans have been trying to impeach Biden — for various reasons — since the first year of his administration, and the vast majority of GOP voters supported the inquiry. But Republicans are headed into November without having gotten it done.
“I think it’s disappointing. I’m disappointed,” said Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri, another GOP member of the Oversight Committee. “Sadly, our side of the aisle seems to pull our punches.”
What remains unclear, however, is whether Republicans will face any backlash from their base in the long term for the lack of an impeachment. After all, Biden’s about to be out of the picture, and Trump could win the election in November.
“I think Republican voters want to make sure that we get Trump in office,” said Rep. Michael Cloud, a Republican from Texas. “That’s their focus at the moment.”
