The White House on Thursday knocked the House Republicans’ resolution to formalize its impeachment inquiry into President Biden, calling it a waste of time.
“This baseless stunt is not rooted in facts or reality, but in extreme House Republicans’ shameless desire to abuse their power to smear President Biden. Fox News already reported that the only reason they’re having this vote is to ‘put a GOP win on the table for the base,’ which is sad, pathetic, and a waste of everyone’s time,” Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight, said in a statement.
Sams linked to a clip of Fox News’ Chad Pergram, who said earlier this week that Republicans “want to hold an impeachment inquiry vote because they need to put a GOP win on the table for the base.”
“Instead of doing anything to actually help people before leaving Washington for a month, these extreme House Republicans are hoping to distract from their own failed ability to govern by trying to score cheap political points in an effort to mollify Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is in open war with her own party’s Speaker,” Sams said.
The White House this week has made a concerted effort to tie the conference to its more far-right members, including casting Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) as the sole lawmaker calling the shots. It has stepped up its criticism of the impeachment inquiry to try to put moderate Republicans worried about their seat in 2024 in a political dilemma.
Sams argued on Thursday that Americans will see that Biden is “focused on solving the challenges facing America and the world,” while the “extreme” House GOP members are focused “on stupid stunts.”
House Republicans released the resolution on Thursday, with a full House vote planned for next week. The resolution comes months after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declared an impeachment inquiry to be underway, and as committees work to wrangle more witnesses and documents for the investigation.
A markup of the resolution is scheduled for Tuesday, and House Republicans hope that formally authorizing the inquiry will put more legal weight behind the probe and their ability to compel evidence, particularly if any of those battles end up in court. House Republicans have alleged that Biden and his family accepted money from foreign interests in what they deemed as suspicious financial deals.
