Originally published June 21, 2023 7:45 am PDT
The House of Representatives is set to cast a vote on a proposed impeachment of President Joe Biden.
The resolution, put forth on Tuesday by a member of the Republican House Freedom Caucus, charges the president with allegations of abuse of power and dereliction of duty.
This move is primarily related to Biden’s approach to managing the U.S.-Mexico border situation.
The impeachment motion, opposed by Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), was introduced as a privileged motion by Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
“President Biden’s negligence of duty has resulted in the surrender of operational control of the border to the complete and total control of foreign criminal cartels putting the lives of American citizens in jeopardy,” Boebert said on the House floor.
At a closed-door meeting of the GOP conference on Capitol Hill, Speaker McCarthy urged Republicans to oppose the impeachment resolution when it hits the floor.
McCarthy is labeled by some as a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) for contradicting apparently Republican causes.
“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.
Boebert’s resolution, which will expose those Republicans apparently protecting Biden, contains two articles of impeachment against the President.
Her impeachment efforts are different from other impeachment efforts, in that her’s uses a procedural tactic that forces the House to hold a floor vote.
“I am bringing my articles of impeachment against Joe Biden to the House Floor in a privileged motion, meaning that every Member of Congress must vote on holding Joe Biden accountable,” she tweeted.
One Twitter user emphasized the significance of Boebert’s move.
“People haven’t fully understood the genius of what @LaurenBoebert is doing with these impeachment articles,” he wrote. “These articles are crafted in a special way through the Parliamentarian that FORCES a vote of each member on the record.”
“This isn’t just noise. This is the first real chance at impeaching Biden,” he added.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz stressed the implication, tweeting, “This will force a vote.”
“Where does your representative stand?”
The Colorado representative’s move mirrors the actions of Democratic Representative Al Green of Texas, who twice compelled votes on his impeachment resolutions against President Trump in 2017 and 2018.
However, the majority of Democrats and Republicans opposed Rep. Green’s resolutions.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a Republican, has expressed her intention to force votes on several impeachment resolutions that she has brought against Biden and his administration.
Boebert explained her position in a recent press release.
“Joe Biden unconstitutionally violated his duty under Article II of the Constitution to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed’ by intentionally disregarding our immigration laws and enabling an invasion along our southern border,” she asserted.
“Joe Biden is unable and unwilling to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. To preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, it is imperative that the House of Representatives impeach Joe Biden and hold him accountable for his egregious violations of his oath of office,” Boebert added.
Boebert’s criticisms of the Biden administration focus heavily on its immigration policy.
Under Biden’s administration, over 5.3 million unauthorized immigrants have been intercepted by Border Patrol at the southern border, with more than 2 million released into the country’s interior without any mechanisms in place to ensure their attendance at immigration court proceedings, according to Boebert’s press release.
Furthermore, an estimated 1.5 million unauthorized immigrants have entered the country undetected due to the surge in border crossings.
National security concerns are also cited, with 96 individuals on the terrorist watch list intercepted by Border Patrol in the first seven months of the Fiscal Year 2023.
Additionally, she attributes over 39,900 pounds of fentanyl encountered at the border and the resultant death of more than 100,000 Americans to Biden’s negligence of duty.
Boebert’s release concluded that Biden “has allowed over 39,900 pounds of fentanyl to be encountered at the southern border. That is enough fentanyl to kill every American 27 times. Under Joe Biden’s dereliction of duty, fentanyl has killed more than 100,000 Americans.”
You can read Boebert’s resolution below:
