Breaking his silence on this week’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry, President Joe Biden said House Republicans are moving forward with the effort “because they want to shut down the government.”
He gave the remarks at a campaign reception in McLean, Va., Wednesday night before closing his speech.
“It was pointed out to me today that [Republican Georgia representative] Marjorie Taylor Greene, the first day she was elected, said, ‘First thing we want to do is impeach Biden,'” Biden said at the event, according to an official White House transcript. “Well, I tell you what, I don’t know quite why, but they just knew they wanted to impeach me. And now, the best I can tell, they want to impeach me because they want to shut down the government.”
The federal government is expected to shut down on October 1 if the House doesn’t approve a stopgap spending bill, which is currently stalled in an argument between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) and a handful of Republicans in the Freedom Caucus.
“Look, I’ve got a job to do. Everybody always asks about impeachment. I get up every day — not a joke — not focused on impeachment. I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got to deal with the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day,” Biden added before transitioning to talking about ending cancer and other goals.
The president’s comments came a day after McCarthy, without a full House vote, formally opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden over his alleged involvement and influence in his son’s foreign business dealings.
“This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. “It’s exactly what we want to know — the answers. I believe the president would want to answer these questions and allegations as well.”
Biden is under congressional investigation for allegedly cooperating with Hunter Biden’s influence-peddling efforts, most notably those involving the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, whose board Hunter was appointed to while his father was serving as vice president.
It’s also believed Biden showed preferential treatment to his son while the latter was under investigation by Congress and the Department of Justice. As a result of the DOJ’s probe findings, Hunter was charged with three felony gun counts on Thursday under a federal indictment filed by special counsel David Weiss.
House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) continue their investigation into Hunter in their attempt to connect his business dealings to the elder Biden.