House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is among Republican committee chairs who have previously conducted impeachment inquiries into Joe Biden. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The U.S. House voted along party lines Wednesday to officially proceed with an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.
The Republican-controlled chamber approved a resolution, 221-212, with Illinois Democrat Brad Schneider not voting, to allow three committees to continue their investigation into whether Biden benefited from his son Hunter’s foreign business dealings.
Work on the investigation thus far has not demonstrated a link involving the president.
The vote was meant to show the investigation has the support of most House members.
Three committee leaders — Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith of Missouri — had previously conducted their inquiry solely at the direction of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Hunter Biden earned millions during his father’s tenure as vice president for sitting on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma and in deals with Chinese oil tycoon Ye Jianming.
Since taking the House majority this year, Republicans in the chamber have investigated Hunter Biden’s business dealings, including with companies in Ukraine and China, and have claimed that Joe Biden and other family members benefited.
But they haven’t shown any direct link from Hunter Biden’s businesses to the president. Witnesses that GOP leaders asked to testify at the House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s first hearing in September acknowledged there was no evidence tying Joe Biden to Hunter Biden’s business activities.
McCarthy directed the three House committees to open the investigation in September as he faced pressure from the Republican conference amid a push to keep the government funded. The move didn’t mollify the far-right members of his party, who voted with every Democratic member to oust McCarthy the following month.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.
