Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs introduced articles of impeachment against Biden. Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Brian Babin and Randy Weber of Texas signed on as co-sponsors of the impeachment resolution.
“I take this seriously. I don’t think it’s haphazard. I’m not trying to get media attention for myself,” Gibbs told The Washington Examiner in an interview.
“He’s done so much damage to this country in less than nine months, which is really scary,” he continued.
“He’s not capable of being commander in chief, and that’s obvious by the actions since Day One when he took the presidency back in January,” Gibbs said, adding, “Maybe something like this makes the White House think twice before they do some of this nonsense.”
Although the most recent Republican impeachment calls have centered on a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, during which the U.S.-backed government fell and the Taliban retook power, Gibbs’s resolution includes three articles of impeachment that cover two other issues.
“We actually started working before the Afghanistan debacle because I was so upset” about the border and eviction situations, Gibbs said.
“Obviously, it’s not going to go anywhere with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi,” Gibbs added, acknowledging the slim chances of impeachment while Democrats are in the majority.
But “it shows that there are some Republicans that think that this president needs to be impeached, he needs to be removed from office one way or another”, he added.
“At some point, they’re gonna be held accountable for their actions, and this is kind of putting them on notice,” Gibbs stated.
The first impeachment article in his resolution charges that Biden “violated his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President” with his handling of migration on the U.S.-Mexico border. It cites his halting construction of the border wall, ending the policy that requires migrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico, and releasing “thousands of migrants who entered the United States illegally without a date to appear in court for immigration”, including migrants who tested positive for COVID-19.
“If that isn’t violating his oath of office to protect American citizens, our safety, and our welfare, I don’t know what is,” Gibbs said.
Law enforcement encounters with people illegally crossing the southern border have reached record levels under the Biden administration. As a result, the Supreme Court last month effectively reinstated former President Donald Trump’s “remain in Mexico” policy implemented in January 2019. Migrants who presented themselves to federal law enforcement officers at border crossings and who were detained for sneaking over the border are both returned to Mexico if they seek asylum during the process.
The second article accuses Biden of violating the separation of powers by extending the federal moratorium on evictions “despite the clear warning from the U.S. Supreme Court” and “with no legislative directive from the U.S. Congress”.
In August, Biden attempted to extend a federal pause on evictions due to the coronavirus pandemic days after Congress could not extend it before the previous July 31 deadline. At the time, Biden acknowledged the “targeted” order might not pass “constitutional muster”. The Supreme Court later blocked the extension, saying Congress would have to enforce a federal pause on evictions to protect renters during the coronavirus pandemic.
The third and last impeachment article states that Biden “failed to act responsibly as Commander in Chief with regard to the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan”.
“Who in their right mind takes troops out before they take out American citizens and our allies?” Gibbs added.
The move represents an escalation of Republican pushback against Biden amid various crises his administration faces, particularly due to a chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
A wave of Republicans called for Biden’s resignation, impeachment, or removal after 13 U.S. service members were killed in a Daesh suicide bomb outside the Kabul airport last month.
Yet, only a handful of Republicans have signed on to impeachment resolutions so far.
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced an impeachment resolution against Biden on his first full day in office for “abuse of power by enabling bribery” relating to his son, Hunter Biden. She followed that with two more impeachment resolutions in August: one concerning Biden’s extension of the eviction moratorium, which Republican Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Mary Miller of Illinois co-sponsored, and another citing his handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, which has seven Republican co-sponsors.
Earlier this month, Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber also introduced an article of impeachment against Biden for abuse of power regarding the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, alleging Biden urged former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to “falsely portray” progress in fighting the Taliban in a July 23 phone call. Biggs and Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice co-sponsored that resolution.
House Republican leadership has not endorsed or promised to impeach Biden over the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal. But House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy promised last month that there would be a “day of reckoning” for how Biden executed the withdrawal.
“We can take up anything that holds accountable for the actions that have been taken, the lies that have been given, the misdecisions that have put Americans in harm’s way, and the decision to leave Americans behind,” McCarthy stated in a press conference.
Source: The Washington Examiner
