House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declined to throw his support behind impeaching President Biden, a move that several of his House Republican colleagues have called for, warning against doing so for “political purposes.”
McCarthy vowed that Republicans will focus on “holding this administration accountable” if they win the House majority in the 2022 midterms, and he left the door open to impeachment if they find that laws were broken.
“One thing we learned that the Democrats did is they – they used impeachment for political reason,” McCarthy told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday after she asked if he would move to impeach Biden.
“We believe in the rule of law,” McCarthy continued. “We’re not going to pick and choose just because somebody has power. We’re going to uphold the law. At any time, if someone breaks the law and the ramification becomes impeachment, we would move towards that. But we’re not going to use it for political purposes.”
Last summer, a wave of Republicans called for Biden to resign or be impeached over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. During that time, the Taliban swiftly took control of the country as allies scrambled to try to escape the country, and 13 U.S. service members were killed in a bombing attack outside Kabul airport.
Some Republicans who support impeaching Biden cite other policies and actions, such as his handling of border and migration policies. Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) have all introduced articles of impeachment against Biden.
The Republican minority leader, who is aiming to become Speaker if his party wins the House majority, has promised a wave of oversight actions and investigations probing the Biden administration. Republicans say they plan to investigate the messy troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of COVID-19, and the administration’s handing of the migration surge and security at the U.S.-Mexico border, among other topics.
“We will take the facts to wherever the facts go, because America’s been through too much with people playing politics with the concept of impeachment,” McCarthy said. “But if it rises to that level, we would have the law determine that.”
McCarthy previously said last summer that “there will be a day of reckoning” for Biden over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.