Republicans in the US Congress on Tuesday launched an investigation into the possible impeachment of President Joe Biden, but such a prospect remains very hypothetical so far.
• Also read: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy supports the impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden
House elected officials are accusing the Democratic leader of “lying” to the American people about his son Hunter’s controversial affairs abroad.
Some elements to understand this announcement.
What is the procedure?
The Constitution provides that Congress may impeach the President (or Vice President, or federal judge…) in cases of “treason, corruption, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The procedure takes place in two steps.
First, the House of Representatives votes by a simple majority on articles of impeachment detailing the facts alleged against the president. This is known as “impeachment” in English.
If impeached, the Senate, the upper house of Congress, puts the president on trial.
At the end of the debates, the 100 senators vote on each article. A two-thirds majority is required for conviction. In this case, dismissal is automatic and without appeal.
Otherwise the president will be acquitted.
No president has ever been impeached in American history. Three were indicted: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998 and Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. But all were ultimately acquitted.
Richard Nixon chose to resign in 1974 to avoid certain impeachment by Congress due to the Watergate scandal.
The US Senate is currently in the hands of the Democrats, which also makes impeachment of Joe Biden very unlikely.
Why now ?
The Trumpist wing of the Republican Party has been pushing for President Biden’s impeachment since his election.
After Republicans won the majority in the House of Representatives in early January, they launched a series of parliamentary investigations into the Democratic leader’s entourage.
These elected officials have “identified serious and credible allegations about President Biden’s conduct,” which is now the reason for the opening of this impeachment inquiry, assured their chairman Kevin McCarthy.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was elected at the price of numerous concessions with the Trump wing of his camp. However, the elected official from California risks being “replaced as speaker” if he does not validate this long-requested investigation, political scientist Larry Sabato tells AFP.
The Democrats, for their part, accuse this approach, a little more than a year before the American presidential election, of being carried out for political purposes.
Republicans have made the House of Representatives the “antenna” of Donald Trump’s campaign and launched the team of President Joe Biden, his re-election candidate.
Because the Democrat could run again in November 2024 against his Republican rival Donald Trump – impeached four times in the last few months but favorite in the Republican primaries.
What consequences?
“I think this could backfire for Republicans,” predicts Professor Larry Sabato, estimating that there is “little or no evidence” to justify their investigation.
However, the image of justice that Joe Biden tried to build could be undermined by televised hearings into his son’s affairs.
At the legislative level, this process could further strain relations between the two parties in Congress.
But Democrats and Republicans absolutely have to find a compromise on the budget: elected members of Congress have until September 30th to pass a new federal budget – otherwise they risk drying up the state’s finances.