Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is talking up the prospects of forcing an impeachment vote against President Joe Biden this week, but Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that the House should let existing investigations play out.
“In general, the impeachment power is one that we wield very carefully here, as I’ve said so many times. Next to declaration of war, it’s the heaviest power that Congress has. And it needs to be very methodical,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday.
“I think President Biden is the worst president in the history of the country, and there may well be impeachable offenses,” the speaker said. “There is an investigation process … and the process continues. So I’m not making any commitment on that this morning. We have to let the constitutional process and our constitutional responsibility play out.”
Waiving a privileged resolution outside the Capitol Monday as the House returned to Washington for the first time since presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump was convicted of 34 criminal counts in a New York City trial, Greene, R-Ga., said she was thinking about trying to force a vote on impeachment but decided to first have a conversation with the speaker.
If she doesn’t get leadership buy-in, however, Greene she said she planned to “drop them on the floor, and then we can vote and see where everybody stands.” A privileged resolution starts a clock that would require a vote this week. Greene has sponsored multiple resolutions to impeach Biden, the first introduced on the first full day of his presidency on Jan. 21, 2021,
“Marjorie’s got the right idea and she’s got every right to put it forward and see if she gets support,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said Tuesday morning as House Republicans were huddling on the first full day of the work period after the Memorial Day recess.
Last month, Greene tried to oust Johnson from the speaker’s office, with Republicans and Democrats coming together to table (and thus kill) her effort, 359-43.
Privileged resolutions offered by members other than the party leaders do not need to be addressed immediately, they may be deferred for up to two legislative days.
Aidan Quigley and David Lerman contributed to this report.
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