McCarthy backs launching formal impeachment inquiry into Biden
(CNN) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he endorsed launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
McCarthy was also expected to make a forceful pitch at a Thursday special conference meeting on investigations among House Republicans that opening an impeachment inquiry into Biden is the next logical step, sources familiar tell CNN.
The development comes as the California Republican has been signaling all recess, as CNN has previously reported, that he’s moving closer to moving forward with such an investigation, related to the president’s son Hunter’s business dealings.
In recent weeks, McCarthy has privately told Republicans he plans to pursue an impeachment inquiry into Biden and hopes to start the process by the end of September, according to multiple GOP sources familiar with the conversations. While McCarthy has already publicly threatened to launch an inquiry, sources say that McCarthy has sent even stronger signals about his intentions behind closed doors.
Punchbowl first reported McCarthy’s expected message on an impeachment inquiry.
The expected next step also comes as McCarthy is laying the groundwork to argue to Republican House members that they need to keep the government funded so they can pursue all of these investigative threads. The government faces a funding deadline by the end of this month in order to avert a government shutdown.
But Tuesday’s news will mark a real effort by McCarthy to start moving ahead and get House Republican skeptics on board with proceeding. A source familiar says McCarthy will not put anything on floor until they know what the numbers are. House Republican leadership will need to formally whip votes at some point which they have not yet done.
The House-led GOP investigations have yet to provide any direct evidence that the president financially benefited from Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) released a brief statement after McCarthy’s announcement, saying on X: “Serious allegations have come to light about President Biden’s involvement with his son’s overseas business dealings that can’t be ignored. We need to get to the full truth, and an impeachment inquiry is the right way to do that.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.