A number of Republicans are upset at GOP colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado after she announced a legislative move to force a vote on articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden.
Boebert on Tuesday took an unexpected action by submitting a privileged resolution on the House floor, which grants lawmakers the ability to demand a vote without the need for committee approval, a maneuver that some Republicans appear to be opposed to.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., did not say if he supported her resolution but suggested he wasn’t happy about how it skirted his committee despite its months-long investigation into corruption accusations against the Biden family, Fox News reported.
“I don’t like how she presented it by bypassing the committee process, especially when the investigation in the Oversight Committee, which she’s on, is producing new information almost daily,” Comer told the outlet.
“I feel like we’ve got some more work to do on the Oversight Committee before we issue a report, then once we issue a report, depending on what’s in that report, then the Judiciary Committee would be the committee that would then have hearings on any potential wrongdoing and potential impeachment,” he said. “So I wish she had gone about it a different way.”
“I think the previous majority cheapened impeachment,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., added in an interview with Fox. “I think it was politicized. This shouldn’t be playground games.”
“This should be serious, should go through the Judiciary Committee or Oversight Committee. And if there [are] real facts for impeachment, then you go there, but doing this is wrong,” he said, agreeing with Comer.
“I would prefer regular order, I think regular order has worked for us,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D. “I think we fought really hard to get rank-and-file members to have committee access and all of those things. That was a big part of the 15-vote speaker fight, so I think we should use it.”
Fox News adds:
Bacon said he would vote with Democrats to kill the resolution when it comes up, something that could happen Wednesday; so did Rep. Ryan Zinke. R-Mont., who previously served as President Trump’s interior secretary and recalled the impeachment process Democrats underwent during that administration.
“I loathe how they treated President Trump. If you want to go through impeachment, it should go through Judiciary, they should look at all the evidence and have a case that is clear,” Zinke said. “I think it should be pursued. I think it should be done, absolutely, so the American people can see it all transparent. I think Jim Jordan, and that committee of jurisdiction is the right place.”
“But doing a privilege motion off the floor is, to me, theater, and smacks of self-service and not service,” he added.
