Originally published June 22, 2023 1:24 pm PDT
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has initiated impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden.
The resolution would impeach Biden for “high crimes and misdemeanors relating to actions taken involving immigration and the southern border.”
Rep. Boebert is the first House Republican in 24 years to lead such an effort, reflecting the growing tensions in Washington D.C.
“Joe Biden’s unconstitutional dereliction of his Article II duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed warrants impeachment,” Boebert declared in a press release.
The Congresswoman emphasized the gravity of the situation, pointing out that Biden “has willfully created a border crisis that has enabled the horrific trafficking of children.”
Bolstering her case, she went on to say, “Biden’s Border Crisis has allowed millions of illegal aliens to pour into our country, threatened our national security, and killed more than 100,000 Americans from fentanyl—including more than 1,800 Coloradans.”
The articles of impeachment against Biden were introduced by Congresswoman Boebert on June 13, focusing on his supposed “unconstitutional dereliction of duty” in managing the southern border.
She later invoked Rule 9, raising a question of privilege to necessitate a vote within two legislative days.
The House Rules Committee responded on June 21 by drafting a rule for the House to vote on initiating impeachment proceedings against President Biden, which passed successfully in a 219-208 vote on Thursday.
The resolution passed despite Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA) opposing the move.
“What majority do we want to be?” McCarthy asked his conference, pushing back against GOP efforts to “[g]ive it right back” to the Democrats, who impeached former President Donald J. Trump twice.
For Boebert, this impeachment process is more than a political tool, it is an exercise in upholding constitutional principles.
The congresswoman noted her “pleasure” at the fact that “House leadership worked with me on my impeachment bill to protect our constitutional republic.”
This historic effort, the first of its kind in nearly a quarter-century, has thrust the congresswoman into the limelight.
With all House Republicans voting in favor of her bill, it’s apparent that she has the backing of her party as she seeks to navigate this significant procedural endeavor.
Boebert’s commitment to using “every available procedural tool to hold Joe Biden accountable and advance impeachment proceedings” was highlighted as her bill made its way through the House.
The proceedings will proceed via the traditional institutional process, with the Committees on Homeland Security and the Judiciary building a body of evidence.
They will then report out impeachment based on that evidence, with the House adopting a resolution to be relied upon during a Senate trial.
As the Congresswoman said, “As demonstrated in this victory, I will continue to use every available procedural tool to hold Joe Biden accountable and advance impeachment proceedings.”
The stakes are high and the implications are wide-ranging.
What comes next in this course of action will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on the political landscape of the nation.
The New York Times noted that Biden “has presided over the largest spike in illegal migration at the southern border in decades. During the 2022 fiscal year, Border Patrol agents arrested migrants who crossed the border illegally more than 2.2 million times.”
