Kevin McCarthy's baseless impeachment inquiry into President Biden is about his own short-term gain and the American people's loss. He is giving in to the demands of the extreme MAGA right of his party in hopes that they will not force him out of the speaker's chair. But who pays the price of this time-wasting and absurd maneuver? The American people, as Republicans do absolutely nothing to show that they can govern and we now careen toward a Republican shutdown that will devastate and disrupt the lives and livelihoods of American families and our economy.
McCarthy's impeachment ploy is the shiny new object that he hopes will distract you from this simple fact: House Republicans have been unable to pass their own MAGA agenda of cutting taxes for the wealthiest and enacting countrywide abortion bans. They cannot govern. Passing funding bills to keep government open is the most basic task of governing.
We need to look no further than the Senate for a positive example. In the Senate, the Democratic governing majority has worked with Republicans and an overwhelming bipartisan majority has passed every single funding bill necessary. Meanwhile, House Republicans have pushed an extremist agenda that does nothing for the American people. McCarthy made a deal with President Biden around spending levels and then promptly broke his word, showing what an untrustworthy negotiator he is.
And now, once again caving to the right wing of his party—including a former president who has been indicted on 91 felony counts so far, serious counts involving election interference and national security—McCarthy has introduced a baseless impeachment inquiry into President Biden. This impeachment inquiry comes after House Republicans have wasted nearly a year of their governing majority digging for crimes that don't exist. By their own admission, their months-long investigation—which cost the American public millions of dollars—has failed to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing by the president. McCarthy's impeachment inquiry is a sham, unrooted in any facts or proof of high crimes and misdemeanors. It is solely rooted in conspiracy theories; in short, it is a political ploy to distract the American people from his inability to govern.
Interestingly, some of the more conservative members of the Freedom Caucus are not behind this stunt. One of the more thoughtful conservative members and a former prosecutor himself, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said just last night that he has seen no evidence linking President Biden to his son's business dealings. Meanwhile, the most extreme MAGA Republicans driving this sham have admitted the only reason for these investigations is to boost Trump's poll numbers.
At the end of the day, let's focus on who stands to lose from these absurd, even delusional, political games. House Republicans have 11 legislative days to prevent a government shutdown and have yet to pass any of the 11 of 12 required funding bills. If the government shuts down, hundreds of thousands of workers won't get paid. Small business owners won't be able to access loans. Flights will be delayed or canceled. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food inspections will be suspended, as will Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspections to ensure communities have clean water. Programs to fight the increase in fentanyl will be compromised. In short: working- and middle-class families will suffer. McCarthy has 11 days left to prevent that. But rather than doing his job, he is wasting time on a political stunt.
We see clearly what he is doing. We see how wrong his priorities are. We see the cost of having extreme MAGA Republicans in charge.
This impeachment inquiry will fail and will cost us precious time as we careen toward a government shutdown. Time is being wasted, and families will pay the price. This is the cost of a Kevin McCarthy speakership.
Elected in 2016, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is now serving her fourth term in Congress representing Washington's 7th District. She serves as the Chair of the 103 member Congressional Progressive Caucus.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
