GOP moderate says McCarthy should hold vote on impeachment inquiry

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Tuesday that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should hold a vote on whether to pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, while saying he would likely vote against it.

“I think it's the right thing to do,” Bacon said of holding such a vote. “But you know, [former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)] set the standard. She did an inquiry last time without a vote.”

Bacon noted that while he was in favor of a vote, he would likely not vote for the inquiry. He said for there to be an impeachment inquiry, there needs to be “some kind of direct evidence towards the president.”

“I think the American people want a better, better governance and higher bar. Impeachment should be rare,” Bacon said, adding that he doesn’t think it is “good” for the country.

He said he believes that there is some corruption connected to Biden’s family, but questioned whether the president was involved.

“But question is, what crime is the president committed? And I think I'm gonna say he didn't, but we got to — we should dig that stuff up before we go down this path,” he said.

McCarthy directed House committees on Tuesday to open a formal impeachment inquiry into Biden based on House probes into his family’s foreign business dealings and the prosecution of his son. The speaker said the investigation will be led by House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) in coordination with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

Bacon, who represents a district Biden carried in 2020, said earlier on Tuesday that he was opposed to such an inquiry.

“As of now I don’t support [an impeachment inquiry],” Bacon said.

“I think an inquiry should be based on evidence of a crime that points directly to President Biden, or if the President doesn’t cooperate by not providing documents,” he added. “There’s clearly corruption with Hunter using his dad’s name to earn tens of millions of dollars. But impeachment needs to be about the dad, not the son. Many of us don’t want to see impeachment become something that is commonly used against every president.”

Mychael Schnell contributed.