Lawmakers and staffers from both parties are predicting that the Republicans will proceed with an attempt to impeach President Biden if they are able to win the House or Senate in November. The GOP is expected to at the very least make significant gains in Congress, possibly even gaining a majority in both chambers. Both sides are already making preparations for the impeachment battle that would likely ensue.
Impeachment likely if GOP wins in November
Republicans think that it won’t be very difficult to find offenses worthy of impeachment in the Biden administration. Any one of the many potential investigations could be enough.
Deciding to impeach the president and then looking for something to impeach him for is the opposite of how the process is supposed to work, but no one can deny that the Democrats will have brought this on themselves.
Impeachment is intended to be a response to serious crimes committed in office. For the Democrats, any actual justification was secondary to the popular feeling that Donald Trump needed to be impeached from day one.
Trump’s first impeachment confirmed that impeaching a president for political purposes is now an option freely available to the party that controls Congress.
Almost from the moment he took office, Republicans have wanted to impeach Biden at the first possible opportunity. After a year in office, they now have plenty of material to work with.
The only thing shielding the White House for now is the thin majority the Democrats have in the House and Senate. Most analysts agree that they are likely to lose at least one chamber in November.
Multiple investigations planned
The idea of impeaching Biden is very popular among Republican voters and has support from significant numbers of independents.
Some Texas Republicans feel that the failure of the White House to address the border crisis would provide the best justification available for impeachment.
Another option would be the Afghanistan disaster; the White House rushed to bolster its legal defenses after the botched withdrawal, so the Democrats may see this one as a real threat.
Representative Matt Gaetz, one of the most vocal impeachment advocates, has set his sights on the Department of Justice and FBI for their handling of the January 6 investigation.
Impeachment efforts are unlikely to succeed, but the threat is already forcing the White House to devote time and money to preparing for a costly legal battle.
With so much of his agenda stalled or flailing and his administration already unpopular with most of the public, an impeachment fight will strain the White House even further, even if it doesn’t amount to anything.