议长凯文·麦卡锡星期二宣布，他命令众议院共和党人继续推进一项控告对总统的调查乔·拜登.
麦卡锡在美国国会大厦的一份简短的正式声明中说:“今天，我指示我们的众议院委员会对乔·拜登总统展开正式弹劾调查。”。他没有回答记者的问题。
麦卡锡此前表示，像过去一样，众议院将对弹劾调查进行全面投票，但截至周二，他似乎没有足够的票数来开启弹劾调查。麦卡锡的发言人告诉ABC新闻，麦卡锡预计不会举行投票启动弹劾调查。
几周来，他一直在暗示对拜登进行弹劾调查，部分是为了安抚共和党的强硬派，并从拜登和他的儿子亨特那里获得银行记录和其他文件。
“这一合乎逻辑的下一步将赋予我们的委员会为美国公众收集全部事实和答案的充分权力，”他周二表示。“那正是我们想知道的——答案。我相信总统也会想回答这些问题和指控。”
麦卡锡说，众议院监督委员会主席詹姆斯·卡莫、众议院司法委员会主席吉姆·乔丹和众议院筹款委员会主席詹森·史密斯将领导这次调查。
几个月来，众议院共和党人一直在调查拜登与其儿子的商业交易有牵连的指控，但到目前为止，还不能证明总统有任何不当行为。麦卡锡说，众议院共和党人在8月休会期间发现了“对拜登总统行为的严重和可信的指控”。总而言之，这些指控描绘了一幅腐败文化的画面。”
“我不是轻易做出这个决定的，”议长麦卡锡补充道。"不管你属于哪个政党，也不管你投了谁的票，这些事实关系到所有美国人."
2023年9月12日，众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡抵达华盛顿国会大厦。
J.斯科特·阿普尔怀特/美联社
白宫发言人伊恩·萨姆斯回应麦卡锡呼吁对拜登进行正式弹劾调查。
“众议院共和党人已经对总统进行了9个月的调查，他们没有发现任何不当行为的证据，他自己的共和党成员也这么说。他发誓要举行一次投票来开启弹劾，现在他突然变卦了，因为他没有得到支持。最糟糕的极端政治，”萨姆斯在X上写道，这个平台的前身是Twitter。
亨特·拜登的律师阿贝·洛厄尔说，“麦卡锡已经表明，他会尽一切努力保住他的小木槌”，包括“基于重新包装的、不准确的关于亨特·拜登及其合法商业活动的阴谋”发起弹劾调查
麦卡锡周二离开众议院时对记者说，他重申，启动弹劾调查可以让众议院委员会获得更多信息。
美国广播公司资深国会记者雷切尔·斯科特问麦卡锡，他是否认为拜登总统犯下了可弹劾的罪行。
“我所说的是弹劾调查允许我们得到答案，得到存在的问题。你不觉得公众想要答案吗?”麦卡锡说。
消息人士告诉美国广播公司的斯科特，前总统唐纳德·特朗普私下与众议院共和党人讨论了对拜登总统的弹劾调查。
据两位消息人士透露，共和党领导层成员之一的众议员埃莉斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)周二下午与特朗普进行了交谈，并向他通报了弹劾调查的最新情况。
共和党人的反应
一名共和党助手向ABC新闻证实，参议院共和党人将在周三的午餐中听取众议员乔丹和卡莫的简报。简报会将是乔丹和卡莫说他们发现的第一个直接证据，对于那些说他们需要更多关于众议院发现的信息才能决定是否支持这些行动的参议员来说，这可能是至关重要的。
在一份声明中，卡莫、乔丹和史密斯表示，他们支持弹劾调查。
“众议院监督和问责委员会、司法委员会以及方式方法委员会将继续努力追踪事实，确保拜登总统为其家庭的经济利益滥用公职而被追究责任。对于这种公然滥用公职的行为，美国人民要求并理应得到答案、透明度和问责。”
参议员米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)是2021年投票罢免前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的七名参议院共和党人之一，他因参与1月6日的叛乱而支持使用弹劾调查，以获得更多有关拜登商业交易的信息。
罗姆尼说:“事实上，白宫一直异常沉默，纵容亨特·拜登，这表明调查并无不妥。”。“这与弹劾非常不同，真正的弹劾需要尚未被指控的重罪或轻罪的证据。但调查是总统和白宫本可以避免的。”
“调查就是调查，不是弹劾，”多年来一直在调查亨特·拜登商业交易的查克·格拉斯利说。“在我看来，这将开辟一条获取大量信息的途径，而我们觉得我们一直受到阻碍。”
“如果他们有事实和证据，他们想通过传统的程序，我们会看到结果是什么，”参议员托姆·蒂利斯谈到众议院的努力。“我不认为这将导致参议院方面的罢免。但如果有他们认为美国人民需要知道的有意义的信息，我没意见。”
宣布正式弹劾调查之际，麦卡锡希望避开保守派强硬派可能的反抗，避免政府关闭。
众议院周二结束休会，在9月30日的最后期限即将到来之际，通过了一项保持政府开放的支出措施。众议院共和党领导人希望通过一项持续的决议，或短期拨款延期，以赢得更多时间来敲定更广泛的拨款方案的细节。
但众议院自由核心小组(House Freedom Caucus)的成员表示，他们不会支持一项持续的决议，除非该决议包括关于边境安全和“DOJ武器化”的某些措辞。该小组曾阻止麦卡锡担任议长，并反对他与拜登总统达成债务限额协议该组织还反对进一步援助乌克兰，这可能会使众议院与参议院共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)产生分歧。
在这种紧张局势下，佛罗里达州众议员马特·盖兹公开威胁要提出动议，撤销对麦卡锡的指控。该动议将迫使就麦卡锡是否应该继续担任议长进行投票。麦卡锡在周一晚上对记者讲话时拒绝了这一威胁，他说盖兹“应该去做……马特的，马特。”
在麦卡锡宣布弹劾后不久，盖兹在周二的一次发言中加倍警告。
“不久前，麦卡锡支持弹劾调查。这是众议院保守派数周以来要求采取更多措施的压力下迈出的一小步。
McCarthy orders impeachment inquiry into Biden amid pressure from hard-liners
Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday he was ordering House Republicans to move ahead with animpeachmentinquiry into PresidentJoe Biden.
"Today, I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden," McCarthy said at the U.S. Capitol in a short formal statement. He did not take questions from reporters.
McCarthy previously indicated there would be a full House vote for an impeachment inquiry, as has happened in the past, but as of Tuesday he didn't appear to have the votes to open one. A spokesperson for McCarthy tells ABC News that McCarthy is not expected to hold a vote to launch the impeachment inquiry.
He has signaled a Biden impeachment inquiry for weeks, in part to placate GOP hard-liners, and in order to obtain bank records and other documents from Biden and his son, Hunter.
"This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather the full facts and answers for the American public," he said on Tuesday. "That's exactly what we want to know -- the answers. I believe the president would want to answer these questions and allegations as well."
McCarthy said House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan and House Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith will lead the inquiry.
House Republicans have been investigating for months alleged ties implicating Biden in his son's business dealings, but have so far have not been able to prove any wrongdoing by the president. McCarthy said House Republicans, during the August recess, uncovered "serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct. Taken together, these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption."
"I do not make this decision lightly," Speaker McCarthy added. "Regardless of your party, or who you voted for, these facts concern all Americans."
White House spokesperson Ian Sams responded to McCarthy's call for a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden.
"House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they've turned up no evidence of wrongdoing His own GOP members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn't have support. Extreme politics at its worst," Sams wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell said "McCarthy has shown he will do anything to hold on to his gavel" including launch an impeachment inquiry "based on repackaged, inaccurate conspiracies about Hunter Biden and his legitimate business activities."
McCarthy spoke to reporters when he left the House floor Tuesday, reiterating that opening an impeachment inquiry allows House committees to get more information.
ABC Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked McCarthy if he believes there's an impeachable offense that President Biden has committed.
"All I've said is an impeachment inquiry allows us to get answers to get questions that are out there. Don't you think the public wants answers?" McCarthy said.
Former President Donald Trump has privately discussed an impeachment inquiry into President Biden with House Republicans, sources told ABC's Scott.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is a member of Republican leadership spoke with Trump Tuesday afternoon and updated him on the impeachment inquiry, according to two sources.
Republicans' reactions
Senate Republicans will be briefed by Reps. Jordan and Comer during their lunch Wednesday, a Republican aide confirmed to ABC News. The briefing will be the first direct taste of evidence Jordan and Comer say they've uncovered, and could be critical for senators who said they need more information on what the House has uncovered before they can decide whether or not to back the actions.
In a statement, Comer, Jordan and Smith said they support the impeachment inquiry.
"The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means, will continue to work to follow the facts to ensure President Biden is held accountable for abusing public office for his family's financial gain. The American people demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this blatant abuse of public office."
Sen. Mitt Romney, one of seven Senate Republicans who voted in 2021 to remove former President Donald Trump from office over his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection, endorsed the use of an impeachment inquiry to gain more access to information regarding Biden's business dealings.
"The fact that the White House has been singularly silent and has coddled Hunter Biden suggests an inquiry is not inappropriate," Romney said. "That's very different than an impeachment, an actual impeachment would require the evidence of a high crime or misdemeanor that has not been alleged. But inquiring is something the president and the White House could have avoided."
"An inquiry is an inquiry, it's not an impeachment," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, who has been investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings for years. "And it seems to me it will open up an avenue to get a lot of information that we feel we've been stonewalled."
"If they've got facts and evidence, and they want to run through a traditional process, we'll see what the result is," Sen. Thom Tillis said of the House effort. "I don't think that it's going to result in a removal on the Senate side. But if there's meaningful information that they think the American people need to know about, I'm OK with it."
The announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry comes as McCarthy looks to stave off a possible revolt from conservative hard-liners and avoid a government shutdown.
The House returned from recess on Tuesday with a fast-approaching Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending measure to keep the government open. House Republican leaders are looking to pass a continuing resolution, or a short-term funding extension, to buy more time to hammer out the details of a broader appropriations package.
But members of the House Freedom Caucus -- the same group that held up McCarthy's ascension to the speakership and opposed his debt limit deal with President Biden -- have said they would not support a continuing resolution unless it includes certain language on border security and "weaponization of the DOJ." The group is also opposed to further aid to Ukraine, potentially putting the House at odds with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Amid the tension, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has publicly threatened to bring a motion to vacate against McCarthy. The motion would force a vote on whether McCarthy should continue on as speaker. McCarthy brushed off the threat while speaking to reporters on Monday evening, saying Gaetz "should go ahead and do it… Matt's, Matt."
Gaetz only doubled down on the warning during a floor speech Tuesday shortly after McCarthy's announcement regarding impeachment.
"Moments ago, McCarthy endorsed an impeachment inquiry. This is a baby step following weeks of pressure from House conservatives to do more," Gaetz said.
