NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE {M} any Republicans are urging House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to authorize impeachment hearings against President Joe Biden. Biden’s murky business dealings with his son before he entered the White House, coupled with his poor job performance, make this move tempting. But McCarthy should take the longer view because hosting such hearings now would be bad for the country and the GOP.
Impeachment used to be viewed as a last resort to be pursued in extreme cases of malfeasance. The Constitution authorizes it only in the case of an officer of the United States committing “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and that historically meant that ineptness in office was not impeachable. James Buchanan, for example, arguably almost destroyed the country with his feckless behavior during the run-up to the Civil War. Yet no one suggested impeaching the arguably most inept president in history.
That’s obviously changed in recent years as partisans on both sides call to impeach presidents of the opposing party simply because of policy differences. Democrats filed four separate articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush, each essentially trying to turn policy differences into impeachable offenses. Many Republicans talked about impeaching President Barack Obama, although none ultimately filed articles against him. These efforts were also largely attempts to turn policy differences into “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Biden’s alleged crimes fill similar territory. His actions as vice president with regard to his son Hunter’s influence-peddling business were sleazy and perhaps more, but they weren’t committed while he was president. Some of his executive actions have been odious, such as his unwillingness to control the southern border. But are they borderline criminal, the traditional standard for presidential impeachment, or merely inept and disagreeable? If they are arguably the latter, then they should be offered as reasons not to reelect him rather than as grounds for removal from office.
This certainly is how the key swing voters of America would view such charges. We regularly hear that these people are sick of the partisan warfare that grips the capital. These voters are essential for recapturing the White House and Senate, as well as maintaining control of the House. They are open to voting for Republicans on policy grounds, even for the much-maligned Trump, as polls show he leads or runs closely behind Biden in trial heats. They would likely recoil from the party that tried to inflame passions that they already consider to be too hot.
The Democratic control of the Senate also suggests that impeachment is not smart. Democrats are not going to vote to impeach Biden based on accusations that boil down to his implementation of Democratic Party policy goals. Only a scandal that showed ineradicable corrupt and illegal behavior similar to that displayed by President Richard Nixon during Watergate could move partisans to impeach a member of their own party. There’s simply no evidence yet that Biden has behaved so brazenly as president.
The country would also suffer if House Republicans moved forward with impeachment. Trust in our national institutions is already low and dropping. There’s good reason for much of that, but there’s also the fact that too many leaders of those institutions seek to use them for narrow power plays to advance their own personal designs. That’s what authorizing impeachment under these circumstances would rightly be perceived as.
That doesn’t mean House Republicans should sit on their hands. The Biden administration has frequently used executive power in historically aggressive and arguably unconstitutional ways, the student-loan-forgiveness plan rejected by the Supreme Court being a prime example. Hearings to expose executive overreach would be appropriate, as would efforts to impeach subordinate officers where those hearings uncovered illegal behavior.
The House should continue to investigate Biden’s business dealings with his son, too. That they occurred before he was president means they should not be grounds for impeachment unless the committee uncovers clear and unmistakable legal infractions for which the statute of limitations has not yet run. Right now there’s a lot of smoke but no fire, but only sustained and thorough investigations can determine what Biden actually did.
Some conservatives will read this and say, “But they did it to Trump.” Perhaps they did. But revenge for revenge’s sake is rarely a good idea. That’s especially true when we consider that over half of Americans do not share the conservative base’s view that either the current indictments or the prior impeachment efforts were illegitimate. Seeking revenge when the ultimate rulers of American politics, the people, don’t agree that revenge is justified is incredibly shortsighted.
The Democrats’ extremism and incompetence mean Republicans have a chance to win in 2024 and then form a new, enduring majority. Launching a futile effort to impeach Biden is a sideshow that can only hurt conservative chances to win and reform the country.