Let’s be clear: The impeachment inquiry in the House is dominating the Hill, but the real circus of hearings and public witness testimony isn’t coming anytime soon. Hunter Biden won’t be marched into Longworth next week.
The announcement of the launch of an inquiry is instead the start of a likely slow burn — that Republicans hope results in fireworks and solid public evidence down the line.
What changes? Not much, many centrist Republicans were saying Tuesday following the announcement. They brushed off the idea that impeachment could distract from the increasingly urgent need to fund the government.
“I’m all in favor of having an inquiry but nothing changes with this inquiry that isn’t going on already and hasn’t been going on for six or seven months,” said Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.). “Judiciary will continue looking. Oversight will continue looking and ways and means we’ll continue to look at issuing subpoenas reviewing document. That’s what they’ve been doing, and that’s what they will continue to do.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy himself is signaling the prioritization of spending bills, making those the topic of this morning’s GOP conference meeting, with a second impeachment-focused meeting on slated for Thursday.
Who will be busy? The same trio of GOP committee chairs who have taken the lead on investigating the Biden administration and family will continue to have starring roles in the impeachment saga:
- House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.)
- House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)
- House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith’s (R-Mo.) (His panel will take the lead on getting confidential tax info from the IRS.)
