The House on Thursday voted to refer articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden to the Homeland Security and Judiciary committees, pointing to an impeachment vote that may be politically difficult for some Republicans.
The vote along party lines, 219-208, came after Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert is seeking to force an impeachment vote this week by filing a privileged resolution that allows a member to bypass the House leadership to bring a measure to the floor. Boebert’s resolution argued that Biden violated federal immigration laws and failed to protect the nation’s southern border.
In an apparent bid to avoid a direct vote on impeachment, the House Rules Committee met Wednesday night and sent to the floor a rule to refer Boebert’s move to the committees.
On the House floor Thursday, Boebert said the measure would allow Republicans to build “a body of evidence at the committee level” that would provide evidence for a final Senate impeachment trial.
“Since his first day in office, President Biden has trampled on the Constitution by abdicating his duty under Article II to ensure that the laws are faithfully enforced,” he said. “Instead of enforcing our immigration laws, he has ignored them lawlessly and released more than 2 million illegal aliens into the interior of the United States without an enforcement mechanism to ensure they are seen in immigration court.”
