In the corridors of power, where the heartbeat of the nation’s capital pulses, the response to the House Republicans’ bold move of initiating an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden resonated louder than the inquiry itself.
“It’s not even wall-to-wall on cable,” divulged an anonymous White House official, his voice hushed, as he assessed the coverage of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s pivotal announcement. This daring step tasked the Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees with delving deeper into allegations, still unproven, of Biden’s involvement in his son’s business ventures.
Indeed, the media’s fickle attention shifted swiftly, leaving Biden’s inner circle with an intriguing revelation. They noted with intrigue that the House GOP’s previous inquiries had failed to ignite public interest, and this recent escalation was unlikely to be any different.
“A majority can’t name the nine Supreme Court justices,” quipped a Democratic operative, his anonymity a cloak for candid commentary. “They’re not going to be following these insane conspiracy theories.”
Yet, this muted reaction to an impeachment inquiry was not solely a testament to the lack of substantial evidence. It also underscored the emerging reality in modern partisan warfare: any sitting president is poised to confront this peril should the opposition party gain control of Congress.
Inside the White House, a sense of inevitability had been brewing. A war room had been methodically constructed over the months, comprising a cadre of lawyers, legislative experts, and communication strategists. With recent escalations, the West Wing maintained close ties with House Democratic leadership, orchestrating a meticulous response.
Operations related to impeachment were cordoned off, even in the way press was managed. Notably, the communications team refrained from issuing a statement in response to McCarthy’s announcement, instead deferring to a tweet from Ian Sams, the White House Counsel’s Office spokesman.
While the president grappled with the inquiry’s implications, he remained focused on his duties, steering clear of dwelling on it extensively.
No White House relishes such inquiries; they are time-consuming, energy-draining, and riddled with negative headlines. Still, the aides believed it was Speaker McCarthy, not President Biden, who was in a political quagmire. They perceived McCarthy’s actions as an attempt to balance the demands of former President Donald Trump and moderate Republicans, attempting to secure conservative support to avert a government shutdown as funding dwindled.
Moreover, they saw this escalation as an implicit admission that prior investigations had yielded little. “House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” asserted Sams, signaling their skepticism.
In his remarks, McCarthy emphasized his decision’s gravity and urged the president’s full cooperation. However, within the West Wing and among the president’s allies, some felt a sense of fortune. The fall agenda of House GOP might now predominantly revolve around impeachment and the perilous possibility of triggering a government shutdown, two substantial political gambles.
Leah Daughtry, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, captured the sentiment aptly: “This is a blatant political move, and I don’t know what they think it nets them because I think the country is tired of blatant political moves.” In a nation yearning for action, the Congress’s priorities lie elsewhere.
