House Speaker Mike Johnson talks to reporters during a news conference.
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A new poll shows some worrying signs for House Republicans’ impeachment push.A Morning Consult poll found that support for move forward on impeachment has collapsed among independents.As of now, a formal vote for an impeachment inquiry is expected to pass this week.
House Republicans are poised this week to formalize their impeachment probe into President Joe Biden. Polling shows that lawmakers would be wise to proceed cautiously.
According to a Morning Consult poll, voters are slightly more likely to support Republicans moving forward, 44% support launching impeachment proceedings compared to 40% who do not. But since September, independents and even some Republican voters have soured on the investigation.
Among independents, 43% are opposed to moving forward with the investigation, compared to September when it was just 36%. As for Republicans, there was slight 3 percentage point drop in support from 73% in September.
The good news for Republicans is the same survey found that among the heavily-Republican leaning group that supports moving forward with impeachment inquiry, 58% thinks Biden has committed an impeachable offense. It would take a separate vote to actually impeach Biden.
As of now, House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to narrowly pass a formal resolution that would lay out Republican’s impeachment inquiry. Some House lawmakers have argued that it’s a necessary step, though there is some disagreement about how much legal power a formal inquiry has compared to the status quo.
In a USA Today op-ed, Johnson wrote that the inquiry will allow three top committees to “continue investigating the role of the president in promoting the alleged influence-peddling schemes of his family and associates.” Republicans have yet to produce direct evidence of wrongdoing by Biden himself.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams pointed out Morning Consult’s findings.
“This comes just days after another new poll found that, by a 48-POINT MARGIN, Americans in key swing districts believe House Republicans have ‘prioritized the wrong things’ (20% right things, 68% wrong things),” Sams wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As the President likes to say: ‘Lots of luck in your senior year!'”
Republicans are roughly following what House Democrats did in 2019. At that time, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry before eventually acquiescing to criticism and holding a formal floor vote just over one month later. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced an impeachment inquiry in September, but backtracked on his vow to hold a floor right away. According to multiple reports at the time, it did not appear that McCarthy had the votes to approve an inquiry.
The key swing votes in the House are the 18 Republican lawmakers that represent districts that Biden won in 2020. Unlike their more conservative counterparts, these lawmakers are among the chamber’s most endangered members. Their seats could easily decide the House majority next year.
One of those lawmakers, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, told reporters on Tuesday that there are “probably not” high crimes or misdemeanors that Biden has committed. He is expected to vote for the inquiry.