KY Rep. James Comer still wants Biden impeached. What are the odds it happens?
Rep. James Comer still believes President Biden should be impeached in the waning months of his tenure.
And Democrats are attempting to provoke Comer and his Republican colleagues to call a vote when Congress returns from its August recess.
So what will result from Comer’s 292-page report alleging “impeachable conduct” of a president no longer standing for re-election?
Very little, experts predict.
“It is an election-year stunt,” said Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor who has testified in the impeachment hearings of former President Trump and former President Clinton. “It will be difficult, if not impossible, to get all the Republican House members to vote for the resolution. Democrats in the House will vote against the resolution, so Republicans all need to follow into line on this — a tough sell for any moderate Republicans still in the House.”
Last week, as Democrats kicked off their national convention in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris, Comer dropped a report finding Biden and his family received $27 million from foreign entities during the past decade. It framed the business dealings as an abuse of his office to enrich his family, even though there’s no direct evidence linking the president to those financial gains or a finding of criminal conduct.
Still, Comer is leaving it up to his House colleagues for how to proceed.
“Chairman Comer has long said President Biden should be impeached, but it’s up to the House Conference to determine next steps,” said Jessica Collins, the spokeswoman for Comer’s Oversight Committee.
It’s noticeable that not many House GOPers are clamoring for a vote to be called, including Comer himself. Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged Americans to read the report but has not proposed moving forward with formal articles on the House floor.
This has left some hardline members of the caucus agitated, asking leadership when an impeachment vote will arrive.
But with Republicans holding only a three-seat margin in the lower chamber, they have little room for defections in order to make an impeachment vote stick.
Comer isn’t lobbying his members either way, according to a Capitol Hill source, meaning there’s no concerted effort to dislodge Biden from his final five months in the White House.
Historically, impeachment inquiries have backfired politically by rallying the opposing party’s base around their incumbent president.
During the Democratic-led impeachment inquiries of Trump, GOP voters became more supportive of him. Former President Clinton’s approval ratings reached an all-time high of 73% in December of 1998, following the approval of two articles of impeachment against him.
Additionally, with Harris now atop the ticket, there’s less of an incentive for Republicans to take down Biden.
“Seeking an impeachment of Biden now is the dumbest thing Republicans can do leading up to the election,” said Vin Weber, a lobbyist and former Republican congressman from Minnesota, who believes Comer has been a smart and effective committee chairman. “If Republicans cannot solely focus on Kamala Harris’ liabilities for the next 60, 70 days, we’re going to lose. Republicans need to focus just on that.”
That’s likely the reason why Comer has shifted his attention to Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, raising questions about the Minnesota governor’s ties to China.
Comer has requested documents and communications from the FBI between Walz and Chinese entities to probe Walz’ 30 visits to the country.
Erin Marshall, the Democratic candidate challenging Comer in Kentucky’s 1st congressional district, called it “another unnecessary, partisan waste of tax dollars.”
