Republicans launch push to impeach Biden

WASHINGTON: Republicans voted on Thursday to kickstart the formalities that could lead to Joe Biden´s impeachment, as far right lawmakers sought to seize the-party´s agenda and escalate a bitter standoff with the US president.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted along party lines to refer a resolution that accuses the 80-year-old Democrat of “abuse of power” and “dereliction of duty” to the judiciary and homeland security committees.

Republicans accuse Biden of failing to control immigration, leading to the country´s “complete and total invasion” and “surrender of operational control” of the US-Mexico border to “foreign, criminal cartels.”

Democrats say the Republicans are simply deflecting attention from the mushrooming legal woes of former president Donald Trump, who faces more than 70 felony counts of financial fraud, mishandling government secrets and obstructing law enforcement.

Biden´s son Hunter has agreed to admit federal tax evasion charges after a probe into his financial affairs, but critics have provided no evidence of any wrongdoing ever by the president himself.

“You can´t make this stuff up. Their extremism continues to be on full display,” House Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters in Congress.

“And they are doing nothing, nothing, nothing to enhance the health, the safety or the economic wellbeing of the American people.”

Impeachment by the House -- the political equivalent of a criminal indictment -- would spark a “trial” by the Senate´s 100 members, who can vote to remove a president with a two-thirds majority vote.

Trump, who was impeached twice, is among three presidents to face the rebuke, although he was shielded from conviction by Republican allies in the Senate on both occasions.

While the Democrats united against Trump, House Republicans have been hamstrung by infighting this time around, with the leadership pushing back against a frivolous impeachment process that would be stymied in the Democratic-led Senate in any case.

Lauren Boebert, the far right firebrand who drafted the Biden resolution, initially pushed for a straight vote on impeachment without a committee procedure that would likely have led to embarrassing infighting on the House floor.