The House diverted a resolution to impeach President Joe Biden to committee on Thursday, effectively staving off a formal vote on the measure that sparked infighting and backlash against its sponsor, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, leaves the chamber ... [+]
The House voted 219-208, along party lines, to refer the resolution to the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees.
Three Republicans and four Democrats abstained from voting.
Boebert, who introduced the legislation last week, made a privileged motion Tuesday to force a vote on the measure, hours after she and other GOP members aligned with former President Donald Trump erupted in fury over the Justice Department’s plea deal with Hunter Biden, which they said was unfairly lenient compared with the agency’s indictment of Trump in its classified documents probe.
Boebert’s resolution targets Biden over his border policies, which Republicans say are too lax and have allowed illegal migrants to flood the border, creating chaos and an influx of fentanyl.
Republicans were expected to table the resolution, which many members of the GOP conference described as frivolous and lacking evidence. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) urged the conference in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to oppose it, and told reporters the move was “premature.” The controversy is the latest to showcase divisions within the House GOP conference, where Boebert and other members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus hold outsized power under Republicans’ slim 222-213 majority in the House.
McCarthy Dismisses Boebert’s ‘Premature’ Biden Impeachment Effort (Forbes)