凤凰城-议长凯文·麦卡锡周日建议控告对乔·拜登总统的调查变得越来越有可能，称这是“向前迈出的自然一步”，因为国会即将结束夏季休假，众议院共和党人寻求扩大他们的调查权力。
加州共和党人麦卡锡迄今一直避免承诺进行弹劾投票，也没有提供可能采取行动的时间表。一些众议院共和党人人急于追捕拜登，因为他的儿子亨特涉嫌财务不当行为，但这位民主党总统没有被证明做了任何错事。
与此同时，麦卡锡表示，通过一项短期支出法案以保持政府在9月底之前运转，将确保对亨特·拜登的调查可以继续进行，这是针对保守派的一个宣传，他们担心与参议院民主党人达成的两党协议不会削减足够的支出。这项权宜之计将争取时间，在新的一年实施两党都不喜欢的强制性支出削减之前，达成一项长期预算协议。
麦卡锡在接受福克斯新闻频道频道的《周日早间新闻》采访时表示:“如果你看看我们迄今为止能够收集到的所有信息，你将不得不进行弹劾调查，这是很自然的一步。”
他说，弹劾调查“为国会提供了获取他们需要的所有信息的最高法律权力。”
麦卡锡正在走钢丝，因为他面临着来自党内成员的压力，他们希望展示对奥巴马的支持唐纳德·特朗普在2024年的总统竞选中。但这位发言人也冒着危及共和党脆弱的众议院多数的风险。
即使拜登在众议院被弹劾，他也不太可能被民主党控制的参议院罢免。
随着众议院将于9月中旬恢复工作，下一个预算年度的10月1日开始即将到来，需要达成支出协议以避免部分联邦关门。
“如果我们关闭，所有的政府都会关闭，调查和其他一切。这伤害了美国公众，”麦卡锡说。
保守派，包括许多来自众议院自由核心小组的人，通常不愿意支持短期融资措施，因为他们推动更大幅度的支出削减，利用关闭的威胁作为杠杆。6月，一小群保守派让众议院陷入停顿，以抗议麦卡锡的领导。
在最近的债务上限谈判中，各方都同意预算水平，当时拜登和麦卡锡达成了一项协议，确定了最高支出水平。但是麦卡锡的共和党多数拒绝这些数额。
议长说，一项权宜支出法案将改善麦卡锡与白宫和参议院民主党人的谈判地位。
“我们在一起讨论，”他说。“所以我们必须有一手更强的牌。”
A House impeachment inquiry of President Biden is a 'natural step forward,' Speaker McCarthy says
PHOENIX --Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested Sunday that animpeachmentinquiry of President Joe Biden was becoming more likely, calling it “a natural step forward” as Congress soon ends its summer break and House Republicans seek to expand their investigative powers.
McCarthy, R-Calif., has so far avoided committing to an impeachment vote or offering a timeline for possible action. Some House Republicans are eager to go after Biden over claims of financial misconduct involving his son Hunter, but the Democratic president has not been shown to have done anything wrong.
Meanwhile, McCarthy said passing a short-term spending bill to keep the government running past the end of September would ensure that investigations of Hunter Biden could continue, a pitch directed at conservatives worried a bipartisan deal with Senate Democrats would not cut enough spending. The stopgap measure would buy time to work out a longer-term budget deal before mandatory spending cuts that neither party prefers are imposed in the new year.
“If you look at all the information we have been able to gather so far, it is a natural step forward that you would have to go to an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy told Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures.”
An impeachment inquiry, he said, “provides Congress the apex of legal power to get all the information they need."
McCarthy is walking a tightrope as he faces pressure from members of his party looking to demonstrate support forDonald Trumpin the 2024 presidential campaign. But the speaker also risks imperiling the GOP's fragile House majority.
Even if Biden were to be impeached in the House, he is unlikely to be removed from office by the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
With the House set to return to work in mid-September, the Oct. 1 start of the next budget year is fast approaching and a spending deal would be needed to avoid a partial federal closure.
“If we shut down, all the government shuts it down, investigation and everything else. It hurts the American public,” McCarthy said.
Conservatives, including many from the House Freedom Caucus, are usually loath to get behind short-term funding measures as they push for steeper spending cuts, using the threat of a shutdown as leverage. In June, a small group of conservatives brought the House to a standstill to protest McCarthy's leadership.
All sides had agreed to budget levels during the recent debt ceiling negotiations when Biden and McCarthy struck a deal that established topline spending levels. But McCarthy’s GOP majority rejects those amounts.
A stopgap spending bill would improve McCarthy's negotiating position with the White House and Senate Democrats, the speaker said.
“We’re in this discussion together,” he said. “And so we have got to have a stronger hand.”
