A Republican on the House Oversight Committee is convinced the panel’s Wednesday hearing will not sway his fellow lawmakers into supporting President Biden’s possible impeachment, he told Fox News Digital.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., emphatically said “no,” when asked if he thought the committee’s second impeachment inquiry hearing would change any minds.
He also accused his fellow Republicans of telling Washington lobbyists and their constituents back home two different opinions about impeaching Biden.
Rep. Tim Burchett, left, is convinced the panel’s Wednesday hearing will not sway his fellow lawmakers into supporting President Biden’s possible impeachment, he told Fox News Digital. (Getty Images)
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“Everybody’s gonna vote how they know they’re gonna vote. What a lot of people are worried about [is] if we do have a vote. I want to vote on it up or down,” Burchett said.
When asked why they could be worried, he said, “They told some of their K Street buddies, ‘I’m not going to vote for this thing,’ because they don’t think they’re gonna have to vote on it…. They told people back home, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m gonna impeach.’ But the reality is, they don’t have the guts to do it.”
Rep. Tim Burchett speaks to reporters upon arrival to a House Republican Conference meeting on November 14, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
House Republicans are investigating Biden over accusations he used his former position as vice president to enrich himself and his family. Of particular concern are foreign business dealings by his son, Hunter Biden, with companies in China and Ukraine.
While there’s near-universal belief within the House GOP Conference that Biden at least appears to have acted improperly, it’s not clear if enough believe those issues reach the threshold needed for an impeachment.
House Republicans are navigating a perilously thin majority, and more than two defectors would likely be enough to sink the effort.
President Biden and son Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Multiple GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital last week that they’re pessimistic about the chances their conference will actually hold a vote.
“I don’t think we have the will to impeach Joe Biden. … We just don’t. We’ve got a two-seat majority. You’ve got some guys in these tough districts that don’t want to alienate maybe independents or moderates,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital at the time.
“They’ve laid out a good case for impeaching Joe Biden … but I just don’t think we have the will to do it.”
Another GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely agreed the impeachment push has lost momentum, chalking it up to the hectic environment of a presidential election year.
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“I think it was always going to lose steam. I think as soon as we transitioned into a formal presidential election, I don’t know that it was going to continue with the same fervor,” the GOP lawmaker said.
Asked about the amount of skepticism within the conference over actually voting to impeach Biden, they said, “I’m not the one to worry about, but there are dozens of others.”
Wednesday’s hearing, titled, “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office,” kicked off with testimony from GOP witnesses and former Hunter Biden business associates Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis, who testified virtually from prison, as well as Democratic witness and former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas.