House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing criticism from Democrats after he changed course and announced he would hold a vote to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden just weeks after he privately conceded there wasn’t enough evidence to move forward.
Democrats are seizing on the reversal, sending out an email on Monday that says Johnson "Flip Flops on Impeachment After Receiving His Marching Orders from Donald Trump" — accusing the top House Republican of greenlighting the inquiry to appease the former president. The House could vote to formalize the inquiry as early as this week.
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“Just three weeks ago, MAGA Mike Johnson said there was no evidence of wrongdoing to support a formal impeachment, but after hanging out at Mar-a-Lago with the twice impeached, 4-time-indicted, chief election denier Donald Trump, he has changed his mind,” Kyle Herrig, president of the Democratic-aligned Congressional Integrity Project, said in a statement. “Mike Johnson has gone from being ‘Speaker Election Denier’ to ‘Speaker Bogus Impeachment’ and he’s putting Republicans in swing districts directly in the political crosshairs.”
Johnson announced on Friday that the House GOP would push for a vote to move forward with impeachment proceedings despite reports the speaker privately told centrist Republicans last month that there is insufficient evidence to do so. Democrats have pushed back on Johnson’s decision, arguing Republicans have not released any new evidence in the last three weeks to justify such a reversal — accusing the speaker of distracting from legislative priorities.
“Their planned vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry is nothing more than a waste of time that could be better spent lowering costs, making our communities safe, and creating new jobs,” said Viet Shelton, national spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the main fundraising arm for House Democrats.
The White House came out against Johnson's announcement, accusing the speaker of bending his knee to members on his far-right such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
“[Johnson] admitted there is no evidence to justify it three weeks ago, but he’s doing it anyway — further proof that this whole exercise is an extreme political stunt, rather than a legitimate pursuit of the truth,” White House spokesman Ian Sams said. “This baseless smear campaign is solely intended to satisfy their most extreme members and proves once again that these House Republicans are wasting time on the wrong priorities, instead of working with the President on real issues American families care about, like lowering costs, creating jobs, strengthening health care, and protecting our national security.”
It’s not yet clear when the House will vote on approving the impeachment inquiry, but it could come to the floor sometime this week. The vote could prove to be a major leadership test for Johnson as he can only afford to lose three GOP votes if all members are present, and some centrist Republicans have previously voiced their apprehension to pressing ahead with such proceedings.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden earlier this year but did so without holding a full vote in the House. That decision came as McCarthy was facing extreme pressure from some GOP members to begin proceedings or potentially lose his top leadership position — which he later did anyway.
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However, Johnson is now looking to hold a vote to formalize those proceedings as a way to counter arguments from White House lawyers that the investigation lacks “constitutional legitimacy.”
“Now we’re being stalled by the White House because they’re preventing at least two to three DOJ witnesses from coming forward,” Johnson said last week. “A formal impeachment inquiry vote on the floor will allow us to take it to the next necessary step, and I think it’s something we have to do at this juncture.”