Biden tears into ‘extreme’ House Republicans over looming shutdown

By Geoff Earle In Philadelphia For Dailymail.Com and Morgan Phillips, Politics Reporter For Dailymail.Com

Published: 16:41 EDT, 26 September 2023 | Updated: 16:41 EDT, 26 September 2023

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President Joe Biden once again ripped House Republicans Tuesday and warned against a government shutdown, with funding set to run out September 30th if lawmakers can’t reach a resolution.

‘In just about a week, we could be facing a government shutdown if Republicans in the House Representatives don’t do their job. There’s no reason for us to be in this position,’ he inveighed in a new video Biden released on his official account on the former Twitter site.

Biden cited his earlier talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which resulted in agreement on spending levels. He warned against the potential toll on the military and on government services, as the White House prepares to try to capitalize on the prospect of chaos in the Capitol.

‘Now, there’s a small group of extreme House Republicans who don’t want to live up to that deal. So they’re determined to shut down the government – shut it down now. And it makes no sense,’ he said, speaking from the Oval Office in a video with multiple camera cuts.

Biden said he was prepared to do his part by House Republicans ‘refuse to stand up to the extremists in their party.’ In a shutdown scenario, military members would be on duty ‘but not get paid,’ Biden said, in just one of the federal impacts the White House has been rollign out this week. ‘And frankly, that’s adding insult to injury.’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday came to the Senate floor to warn against a shutdown, after earlier observing shutdowns haven’t worked out well for Republicans in the past.

‘Over the years, I’ve been pretty clear in my view that government shutdowns are bad news whichever way you look at them,’ McConnell said.

‘They don’t work as political bargaining chips. They create unnecessary hardships for millions of Americans. For example, nearly 46,000 servicemembers and 22,000 civilian workers in my home state of Kentucky who earn federal government paychecks. And they hardly ever produce meaningful policy outcomes at the end of the day,’ he continued.

‘A government shutdown would be an unnecessary disruption of the important work on the Senate’s agenda. So I would urge each of my colleagues to work this week to avoid one.’

He spoke while on the other side of the Capitol, House Republicans struggled to find a way forward.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would put a short-term continuing resolution (CR) on the floor to fund the government beyond September 30. But McCarthy, facing pressure from his conference, would likely include provisions to bolster border security.

‘What’s concerning to me is that there are people in the Republican Party who will take the position of President Biden against what the rest of Americans want,’ McCarthy said Tuesday. 

The speaker can only afford to lose four Republican votes and still pass a party-line CR loaded up with spending cuts.

But more than a quarter of Republicans have blasted a temporary funding bill, including Donald Trump loyalist Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Biden’s video came a day after he dared Americans to stop electing Republicans if the government careens into shutdown next weekend.

‘Funding the government is one of the most basic, fundamental responsibilities of the Congress and if Republicans in the House don’t start doing their job, we should stop electing them,’ Biden said in remarks at the White House. 

The government will run out of money on September 30 if the House and Senate do not agree on spending legislation to send to the president’s desk.  

The president pointed to the debt ceiling deal he made with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which set funding caps for fiscal year 2024.

But the deal roiled some House conservatives who demanded McCarthy write up 12 separate spending bills at caps lower than those agreed to in the debt ceiling legislation. 

‘Now, a small group of extreme House Republicans, they don’t want to live up to that deal and everyone in America could be faced with paying a price for that,’ he said. ‘We made a deal. We shook hands. We said this is what we’re going to do and now they’re reneging on the deal, which is not much of a surprise these days.’ 

Democrats have launched an all-out campaign to lay blame on Republicans for a government shutdown. 

Earlier the Biden campaign accused House Republicans of ‘gleefully letting Donald Trump function as their chief political strategist at the expense of American families.’

Five days before a government shutdown, it’s not clear the House is any closer to passing a spending deal than it was last week. 

Last week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned shutdowns ‘have always been a loser for Republicans politically’ and that they’ve ‘never produced a policy change.’

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is expected to take yet another gamble with a rule vote that would advance four separate spending bills on Tuesday, though it’s far from clear the rule would pass. 

The speaker would need to flip five Republican holdouts who voted ‘no’ on a rule vote for the defense spending bill last week, a rule vote that failed twice in 48 hours. 

The rule vote that tees up debate on spending bills typically passes with support from almost everyone in the majority party. But the House GOP has struggled to push through a rule vote three times this year. 

The rule vote for the military, the Department of Homeland Security, State and agriculture on Tuesday night will take the temperature for how the rest of the week could play out for House Republicans.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has already said she is a ‘hard no’ on the rule because it includes ‘blood money’ for Ukraine.

McCarthy had said he would strip $300 million to train Ukrainian soldiers from the defense spending bill and hold a separate vote on it on Friday. But he did an about-face and decided to leave the money in their as he realized it would be too difficult to strip that and the Ukraine funding in the bill for State Department funding.  

The other GOP ‘no’ votes include Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.) and Dan Bishop (N.C.) and it’s not clear if any of them have changed their mind this week. 

Even if they are able to begin debate on the bills, it’s far from clear they could actually pass them.  

And if all 12 appropriations bills were passed by the House, a daunting feat in itself, the government would still shut down because the Senate would never take up and pass those bills by Saturday night. 

Meanwhile, McCarthy is pushing forward with a Republican-only continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open and give his conference more time to push through spending bills. 

The Senate, meanwhile, is prepping a bill that could advance a Democrat-led CR  and put pressure on McCarthy to put it on the floor. 

And House moderates have begun to prep their own bipartisan CR plans and look at ways to advance them without the blessing of leadership. Some moderate Republicans have said they would join with Democrats on a discharge petition, meaning they could force a CR vote on the floor if five Republicans and all Democrats agree to it. 

McCarthy has urged his colleagues to fight against a shutdown, even as some seem open to closing the government to get what they want. Trump urged Republicans on Truth Social Sunday: ‘UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!’ 

‘You have to keep the government open. I mean, if people want to close the government — only makes them weaker,’ McCarthy said. 

‘Why would they want to stop paying the troops or stop paying the border agents or the Coast Guard? I don’t understand how that makes you stronger. I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make.’ 

President Biden dared Americans to stop electing Republicans if the government careens into shutdown next weekend.

‘Funding the government is one of the most basic, fundamental responsibilities of the Congress and if Republicans in the House don’t start doing their job, we should stop electing them,’ Biden said in remarks at the White House. 

The government will run out of money on September 30 if the House and Senate do not agree on spending legislation to send to the president’s desk.  

The president pointed to the debt ceiling deal he made with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which set funding caps for fiscal year 2024.

But the deal roiled some House conservatives who demanded McCarthy write up 12 separate spending bills at caps lower than those agreed to in the debt ceiling legislation. 

‘Now, a small group of extreme House Republicans, they don’t want to live up to that deal and everyone in America could be faced with paying a price for that,’ he said. ‘We made a deal. We shook hands. We said this is what we’re going to do and now they’re reneging on the deal, which is not much of a surprise these days.’ 

Democrats have launched an all-out campaign to lay blame on Republicans for a government shutdown. 

Earlier the Biden campaign accused House Republicans of ‘gleefully letting Donald Trump function as their chief political strategist at the expense of American families.’

Five days before a government shutdown, it’s not clear the House is any closer to passing a spending deal than it was last week. 

Last week Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned shutdowns ‘have always been a loser for Republicans politically’ and that they’ve ‘never produced a policy change.’

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is expected to take yet another gamble with a rule vote that would advance four separate spending bills on Tuesday, though it’s far from clear the rule would pass. 

The speaker would need to flip five Republican holdouts who voted ‘no’ on a rule vote for the defense spending bill last week, a rule vote that failed twice in 48 hours. 

The rule vote that tees up debate on spending bills typically passes with support from almost everyone in the majority party. But the House GOP has struggled to push through a rule vote three times this year. 

The rule vote for the military, the Department of Homeland Security, State and agriculture on Tuesday night will take the temperature for how the rest of the week could play out for House Republicans.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has already said she is a ‘hard no’ on the rule because it includes ‘blood money’ for Ukraine.

McCarthy had said he would strip $300 million to train Ukrainian soldiers from the defense spending bill and hold a separate vote on it on Friday. But he did an about-face and decided to leave the money in their as he realized it would be too difficult to strip that and the Ukraine funding in the bill for State Department funding.  

The other GOP ‘no’ votes include Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.) and Dan Bishop (N.C.) and it’s not clear if any of them have changed their mind this week. 

Even if they are able to begin debate on the bills, it’s far from clear they could actually pass them.  

And if all 12 appropriations bills were passed by the House, a daunting feat in itself, the government would still shut down because the Senate would never take up and pass those bills by Saturday night. 

Meanwhile, McCarthy is pushing forward with a Republican-only continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government open and give his conference more time to push through spending bills. 

The Senate, meanwhile, is prepping a bill that could advance a Democrat-led CR  and put pressure on McCarthy to put it on the floor. 

And House moderates have begun to prep their own bipartisan CR plans and look at ways to advance them without the blessing of leadership. Some moderate Republicans have said they would join with Democrats on a discharge petition, meaning they could force a CR vote on the floor if five Republicans and all Democrats agree to it. 

McCarthy has urged his colleagues to fight against a shutdown, even as some seem open to closing the government to get what they want. Trump urged Republicans on Truth Social Sunday: ‘UNLESS YOU GET EVERYTHING, SHUT IT DOWN!’ 

‘You have to keep the government open. I mean, if people want to close the government — only makes them weaker,’ McCarthy said. 

‘Why would they want to stop paying the troops or stop paying the border agents or the Coast Guard? I don’t understand how that makes you stronger. I don’t understand what point you’re trying to make.’ 

President Joe Biden got briefly marooned while announcing a plan to invest $40 billion in infrastructure for Pacific islands – then skipped over the acronym for the new program he was touting after botching the name during delivery.

Biden announced the Pacific Islands Initiative at the start of a White House summit for Pacific island nations.

‘We call it the P … PI … anyway, doesn’t matter what we call it, but that’s what it is,’ he said.

Then he riffed, ‘I was going to get back to acronyms and I’m … not doing that,’ he joked, earning some laughs from participants in the East Room of the White House.

Biden, 80, has spoken of the arduous task of overcoming a speech impediment during his youth, although his stumbles have been gaining increasing attention amid voter concerns about his age. Last week, he mentioned the name of the black caucus instead of the hispanic caucus at an event, and bumped into the Brazilian flag at an event at the UN, amid polls showing him essentially tied with Donald Trump. 

Then at Monday’s meeting, Biden got to touting some of what those investments, with congressional buy-in, would be – at a time the U.S. is courting nations large and small in the region amid China‘s muscle-flexing.

He said they included digital connectivity, global infrastructure investment, and micro-finance, along with sustainable fisheries and efforts to grapple with climate change and rising sea levels. 

‘I want you to know I hear you.. we hear your warnings of the rising seas,’ he said.

‘We hear your calls reassurance that you never never never will lose your statehood, or membership the UN as result of climate crisis,’ Biden said. Smaller nations represent and influential block at the UN.

At the top of his remarks, Biden thanked the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, who he said brought an ‘incredible gift.’

It was a small piece of an A20 aircraft.

Biden then told a story, saying that ‘during World War II my … uncle was in the Army Air Corps’ having flown many missions across the Pacific. He ‘flew many missions in that A20,’ Biden said.

‘In 1944 during one of those missions his plane crashed off the coast of Papua New Guinea,’ Biden said. ‘My uncle’s remains were never recovered, never found.’

He said Gen. Douglas MacArthur sent a condolence letter. ‘He died serving in a crusade from which a better world for all will come,’ the general wrote. 

Biden apologized for having to cancel a planned trip to Papua New Guinea earlier this year amid talks over averting a debt limit default. 

According to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which put out a call for proposals, the program Biden mentioned is called the Pacific Island Strategic Infrastructure Initiative. 

Biden hosted Pacific island leaders for a second White House summit on Monday, part of a three-day U.S. charm offensive to block further Chinese inroads into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard.

Ahead of a White House welcome for the leaders, Biden announced U.S. diplomatic recognition of two more Pacific islands nations, the Cook Islands and Niue. The U.S. will also promise new money for infrastructure for the region, including to improve internet connectivity via undersea cables, and honor regional leaders at an NFL game.

Biden held an inaugural summit with the islanders at the White House a year ago and was due to meet them again in Papua New Guinea in May. That plan was scrapped when a U.S. debt- ceiling crisis forced Biden to cut short an Asia trip.

At last year’s summit with 14 Pacific island nations, Biden’s administration pledged to help islanders fend off China’s ‘economic coercion’ and a joint declaration resolved to strengthen their partnership, saying they shared a vision for a region where ‘democracy will be able to flourish.’

The White House said this year it would focus on priorities including climate change, economic growth, sustainable development, public health and countering illegal fishing.

In announcing recognition of the Cook Islands and Niue as sovereign and independent states, Biden said the move would ‘enable us to expand the scope of this enduring partnership as we seek to tackle the challenges that matter most to our peoples’ lives.’

He said the U.S. had a long history of cooperation with the Cook Islands, dating back to World War Two, when the U.S. military built airport runways in one if the chain’s atolls. He said Niue played ‘a critical and constructive role in the Pacific,’ including by supporting sustainable development, security, and marine protection and ocean conservation.

In Baltimore on Sunday, Pacific island leaders visited a Coast Guard cutter in the harbor and were briefed on combating illegal fishing by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, an official said.

They also attended Sunday’s National Football League game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts. Dozens of NFL players are of Pacific Islander heritage.

SOME SKIP SUMMIT

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who has deepened his country’s ties with China, will skip the summit. A senior Biden administration official said the U.S. was ‘disappointed’ by Sogavare’s decision.

Washington appears to have made no progress on offers of substantial infrastructure funding and expanded aid to the Solomons. Sogavare visited China in July, announcing a policing agreement with Beijing that builds on a security pact signed last year.

The White House in 2022 said the U.S. would invest more than $810 million in expanded programs to aid the Pacific islands.

Meg Keen, director of Pacific Island Programs at Australia’s Lowy Institute, said that while the U.S. had opened new embassies and USAID offices in the region since last year’s summit, Congress had yet to approve the funds.

She added that Pacific island countries ‘welcome the U.S. re-engagement with the region, but don’t want geopolitical tussles to result in an escalation of militarization.’

Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman will also not attend the summit, his office told Reuters.

Kilman was elected by lawmakers two weeks ago to replace Ishmael Kalsakau, who lost a no-confidence vote for actions including signing a security pact with U.S. ally Australia.

The U.S. is still negotiating to open an embassy in Vanuatu, but has not significantly increased its engagement with the nation, which counts China as its largest external creditor. China last month sent police experts to Vanuatu and signed a policing agreement.

A senior Biden administration official said the U.S. was on track to open the Vanuatu embassy by early next year and that other Vanuatu officials would attend the summit.

Fiji has welcomed the stronger U.S. regional presence as making the Pacific ‘more secure,’ but Kiribati, one of the most remote Pacific island states, 2,500 miles (4,000 km) southwest of Hawaii, said this year it plans to upgrade a former World War Two airstrip with Chinese assistance.

Washington renewed agreements this year with Palau and Micronesia that give it exclusive military access to strategic parts of the Pacific, but has yet to do so with the Marshall Islands, which wants more money to deal with the legacy of massive U.S. nuclear testing in the 1940s and 50s.

A Biden administration official said it was confident of concluding a deal with the Marshall Islands.

Kevin McCarthy launches bombshell Biden impeachment inquiry

By Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Published: 12:01 EDT, 12 September 2023 | Updated: 12:32 EDT, 12 September 2023

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President Biden has butchered yet another speech during which he referred to legendary rapper LL Cool J as a ‘boy’ after mispronouncing his name at the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday night.

LL Cool J and MC Lyte received Phoenix Awards for their musical contributions at the annual ceremony in Washington DC.

While on stage, Biden, 80, said: ‘Two of the great artists of our time representing ground-breaking legacy of hip hop in America, LL Jay Cool J, uhhh…’ – as the audience laughed at his latest gaffe over the rapper’s name.

But he then added: ‘By the way that boy – that man’s got biceps bigger than my thighs’.

The footage of the speech was quickly re-posted by RNC Research on social media where commentators swiftly pointed out that referring to African Americans as ‘boy’ is widely considered a derogative term. 

On X, formerly Twitter, one user said: ‘Ohhh god make it stop PLLEASE. He’s making a total mockery of this country’.

Another accused him of being an ‘ignorant racist Democrat’.  

This is not the first time the president has found himself in hot water for using the term. 

Biden was heavily criticized earlier this year when referring to Maryland‘s first black governor Wes Moore as a ‘boy’. 

‘You got a hell of a new governor in Wes Moore, I tell ya,’ Biden told members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in February. 

‘He’s the real deal, and the boy looked like he could still play. He’s got some guns on him,’ he added.

In May he also raised eyebrows after telling a White House attendee to ‘hush up, boy’ during an event celebrating Islamic holiday Eid-al-Fitr.

The awkward exchange came as the audience member, who is believed to be a Muslim man, interrupted the president as he marked the occasion before a packed crowd.

‘You want to come and make a speech?’ Biden responded after he was heckled.

‘Hush up, boy, as my mother would say’ he continued in a mimicked Southern drawl. 

In 2019, Biden made a similar slip-up when he told a crowd on the campaign trail that he could work with all people – even those who he did not agree with.

He told how he worked with James Eastland, a Mississippi senator and plantation owner, who was an open white supremacist. Eastland resigned as a senator in 1978 and died in 1986, aged 81.

Biden said that Eastland respected him, declaring: ‘He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son.”

Senator Cory Booker, who is black, rebuked Biden for downplaying the use of the word ‘boy’ to diminish black men.

Booker, on CNN, said it was inappropriate. ‘You don’t joke about calling black men “boys”,’ he said.

He later added that he’d had a constructive conversation with Biden about his use of the term, adding: ‘This is about him invoking a terrible power dynamic that he showed a lack of understanding or insensitivity to by invoking this idea that he was called ‘son’ by white segregationists who, yeah, they see in him their son.’

In 2021, the president also clumsily referred to Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama, who was 29 at the time, as a ‘boy’.

He told the Japanese prime minister during a press conference: ‘You’ve got a Japanese boy coming over here and guess what? He won the Masters. He won the Masters. He won the green jacket.’

Biden’s Saturday night blunder is just the latest in a long line of recent speech disasters as critics increasingly raise concerns about the president’s age and health. 

During a speech in Washington on Thursday at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 46th Annual Gala, Biden had celebrated Sister Norma Pimental, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, for her gala award.

Biden praised her for living the lessons based on the Gospel of Matthew before adding: ‘The Congressional Black Caucus embodies all those values.’

Just days ago Biden repeated the same story twice within minutes at a private fundraising event in New York, sparking further concerns about his age.

The story was one the president tells often about how events in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, and the reaction of Donald Trump, inspired him to run for the White House.

On Aug 11, 2017 white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended on the city and clashes continued into the following day.

Biden, who was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, attended a fundraising gathering hosted by food security expert Amy Goldman Fowler at her home.

According to a White House pool report of the private event he began speaking just after 4pm in a living room in front of about two dozen people.

Biden talked about his economic record and reflected on his decision to seek the presidency and ‘talked about the events of Charlottesville’ as the reason for his campaign, the report said.

‘A few minutes later, he told the story again, nearly word for word,’ the report went on.

The incidents have sparked further concern about his age and health after he seemingly wandered off a stage failing to shake hands with Brazil’s president.

When in Vietnam earlier this month, his rambling press conference was brought to a sudden end with his mic cut and jazz music playing him off the stage, like he went too long in an awards speech.

Biden was mid-flow and answering questions from journalists when he was interrupted and forced to shuffle away and head backstage.

‘We talked about stability, we talked about the Third World, excuse me, the Southern Hemisphere has access to change. It wasn’t confrontational at all….’ Biden said as he rambled on.

Suddenly, the booming voice of his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, could be heard butting in.

‘Thank you everybody. This ends the press conference. Thanks everyone,’ she said as she brought the presser to a close.

The White House on Tuesday ripped Speaker Kevin McCarthy for ‘flip-flopping’ on his impeachment stance and insisted House Republicans have no evidence of wrong doing on President Joe Biden after nine months of investigations.

‘House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,’ White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams said in a statement.

‘His own Republican members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support. This is extreme politics at its worst,’ Sams added of McCarthy.

The speaker on Tuesday stunned Washington when he officially opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden in a shock statement accusing the president of an ‘abuse of power and being involved in a ‘culture of corruption’ over son Hunter’s foreign business deals. 

Biden has an impeachment war room set up at the White House, filled with dozens of lawyers and aides to help him battle House Republicans. The war room is based in the White House counsel’s office and staffed by lawyers, legislative aides and communications staffers who will act aggressively against Republicans’ investigations. Sams is part of that effort.

And Biden’s presidential campaign called the impeachment inquiry ‘baseless’ and accused McCarthy of giving into demands to Donald Trump. Trump has pushed his allies on Capitol Hill to investigate Biden as he was investigated by Democrats.

The Biden campaigned described McCarthy’s move as election-year politics.  

‘As Donald Trump ramped up his demands for a baseless impeachment inquiry, Kevin McCarthy cemented his role as the Trump campaign’s super-surrogate by turning the House of Representatives into an arm of his presidential campaign,’ Ammar Moussa, spokesperson for Biden-Harris 2024, said in a statement.

Some Biden allies have argued the impeachment proceeding could help the president as he heads into next year’s presidential contest, firing up Democratic and swing voters in Biden’s favor.

Trump successfully used his impeachments to rally his base and raise millions for his political fundraising committees. 

And some Senate Republicans have the same concer, that the impeachment could backfire against them and give Biden a boost in the 2024 election, CNN reported. 

They’re also worried it could distract voters from their effort to blame Biden on rising inflation and the troubled economy. 

But McCarthy, under heavy pressure from the conservative wing of his party and facing threats to his speakership, declared the inquiry would begin. 

‘House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ McCarthy said, speaking at the Capitol on Tuesday. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.’

‘These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

‘This logical next step will give our committees, the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public. That’s exactly what we want to know the answers.’

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office. 

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

An inquiry is the first step in the impeachment process. It is when evidence is gathered for the articles, or charges, of impeachment against an official.

It is a massive step with many pitfalls, including infuriating Republican moderates and many GOP senators, who are skeptical of the issue and causing friction with the White House as budget negotiations are underway. Congress faces a September 30th deadline to fund the government or it will shutdown.

McCarthy, however, is under intense pressure from the conservative wing of his party to make such a move, including threats from some of his own GOP lawmakers to remove him from the speakership.

The White House has repeatedly denied Biden has conducted any wrongdoing. The president himself has said he was not involved with any of Hunter’s business deals. 

Some of Hunter’s former associates, however, have testified that Joe Biden spoke to Hunter’s business associates but the president’s defenders say it was quick conversation and merely cordial, not related to any dealmaking. 

Joe Biden also used various private email addresses from which he would sometimes send, receive and forward government correspondence according to emails found on Hunter Biden’s now-infamous laptop.

‘Robin Ware,’ ‘Robert L. Peters’ and ‘JRB ware’ were three pseudonyms used on emails that were about both official and family business.

The White House argues it’s common for public figures to use false names. 

McCarthy charged Biden was involved.

‘Eye witnesses have testified that the President joined on multiple phone calls, and had multiple interactions, dinners, resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his son’s and his son’s business partners,’ he said. 

It’s estimated Hunter raked in $40 million through 20 shell companies and fake accounts created while Joe Biden was vice president, at the same time the elder Biden was joining Hunter’s business calls and stopping by at lavish dinners.

The speaker justified his decision, claiming Biden’s family got special treatment from the government. 

‘It appears that the president’s family has been offered special treatment by Biden’s own administration – treatment that not otherwise would have received if they were not related to the President,’ he noted.

He did not specify how the Bidens got special treatment but House Republicans have demanded records from the Justice, State, and Treasury Departments as part of their probe. Hunter is under investigation by a special counsel and faced an IRS investigation about his taxes.

Hunter Biden has denied any wrong doing. 

House Republicans have been investigating the president and his family since they took control of the lower chamber in January.

Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the Oversight Committee, claims there could be upwards of 12 Biden family members who benefitted from influence peddling by the president and Hunter.

While most names have not yet been revealed, Comer previously said that suspicious activity reports (SARs) reviewed by Republicans on the panel have found that President Biden’s brother Jim Biden and his son Beau’s widow Hallie Biden benefited from foreign business deals.

Comer accused Hallie Biden of influence peddling by receiving a $35,000 payment linked to a Chinese firm.

The reports from earlier this year claimed that Hallie received a cut of the $3 million from China sent to an associate of Hunter Biden, whom she dated from 2016-2019 after her husband Beau died of brain cancer.

The White House, at the time, released a blistering statement accusing Republicans of orchestrating an ‘attack’ on Hallie.

Members of the Biden family could get dragged into the impeachment probe.

‘We know that bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to the Biden family members and associates through various shale companies,’ McCarthy said on Tuesday.

When House Republicans meet on Thursday behind closed doors in the Capitol, the two committee chairmen leading the probes of the Biden family – Reps. Jim Jordan of the Judiciary Committee and Comer – will lay out their findings thus far.

Jordan, Comer and Republican Rep. Jason Smith of the Ways and Means Committee will lead the probe. 

‘I do not make this decision lightly,’ McCarthy said Tuesday.

‘I would encourage the President and his team to fully cooperate with this investigation,’ he added. ‘We are committed to getting the answers for the American public. Nothing more, nothing less. We will go wherever the evidence takes us.’

Three separate Republican-led committees have investigated allegations that Hunter Biden leveraged his father’s vice presidency to secure foreign business deals that made the family a mint.

Hunter is already facing legal issues. Federal prosecutors plan to indict Hunter on illegal gun charges that have a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail by the end of September.

David Weiss, a U.S. attorney appointed by then-President Donald Trump, has been leading the Justice Department probe into the first son. He was given special counsel status last month amid concerns from Republicans that Weiss didn’t have the authority to conduct a proper investigation.

An impeachment inquiry could mean Hunter is brought before Congress to answer questions. 

McCarthy, in announcing the inquiry, is using his unilateral power as speaker to begin the impeachment process. Nancy Pelosi did the same when she was speaker to begin both of Donald Trump’s impeachments.

The entire House could vote to begin impeachment proceedings but there were questions as whether McCarthy could wrangle the 218 votes from House Republicans to authorize it. Some moderate GOP lawmakers have been skeptical of the need for an impeachment inquiry. 

So far, House Republicans have uncovered no evidence that Joe Biden has personally profited off his son Hunter’s business arrangements. 

McCarthy said last month that an impeachment inquiry would only happen with a formal House vote.

‘To open an impeachment inquiry is a serious matter, and House Republicans would not take it lightly or use it for political purposes. The American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives,’ McCarthy told Breitbart News 

‘That’s why, if we move forward with an impeachment inquiry, it would occur through a vote on the floor of the People’s House and not through a declaration by one person.’

In a full House vote, he’d only be able to lose five Republicans. Some had already cast doubt. 

Moderate Republican Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado and Don Bacon of Nebraska have voiced skepticism of the impeachment inquiry. 

But McCarthy is facing other threats.   

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close Trump ally, has said she wouldn’t vote to fund the government without an impeachment inquiry against Biden. 

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, another ally of the former president, has said if McCarthy stands in the way of the impeachment process, he’d move to remove him from the speakership.

He doubled down on that threat on Tuesday.

Speaking on the House floor shortly after McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry into the president Gaetz warned: ‘Focus on balanced budgets and term limits, subpoenas for Hunter Biden…and impeachment for Joe Biden…Do these things or face a motion to vacate the chair.’

McCarthy became speaker after a deal with the conservative wing of the Republican Party issued a list of demands – including the ability to call a quick vote to ‘vacate the chair’ and remove him from office.

Now that threat hangs over McCarthy’s every move like the sword of damocles.

The speaker is also dealing with a ticking clock when it comes to avoiding a government shutdown. 

If Congress doesn’t pass a bill to fund the government by the end of the month, there will be a partial shutdown. Given the Congressional schedule, there are just 11 working days to do that.

The White House has suggested passing a temporary resolution to keep the government open through the end of the year while negotiations continue.

McCarthy is trying to float a 30-day stopgap measure that would keep things running until  Nov. 1, but conservatives are balking at what’s called a continuing resolution.

The White House has requested that resolution contain $16 billion in disaster relief funds and $24 billion for the Ukraine. Many Republicans want to cut off funding for the Ukraine.

Nikki Haley says Biden is worse than King George: 2024 hopeful compares Britain’s crackdown on the colonies to Joe trying to ‘control the lightbulbs we use’ and the ‘stoves we buy’

• Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley debuted her ‘Freedom Plan’ from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire Friday 
• As part of it, she listed way to ‘reduce federal government control of our lives’
• In her speech she said the British ‘had nothing on Joe Biden’ railing him for trying to control light bulbs, cars and the stoves Americans can buy

By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.S. Political Reporter For Dailymail.Com In Hampton, New Hampshire

Published: 16:01 EDT, 22 September 2023 | Updated: 16:27 EDT, 22 September 2023

Jill Biden didn’t answer a question about husband Joe Biden‘s impeachment as she hosted an event with Hillary Clinton at the White House but assured the former secretary of state she was very ‘loved’ by the Democrats in the room.

The first lady smiled at a reporter who inquired about Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s decision to open an impeachment inquiry against the president but didn’t stop to comment on the matter.

‘It’s an honor to welcome you back to the White House,’ Jill Biden told Hillary Clinton at the event in the East Room. And when the audience broke into whoops and cheers, the first lady to her: ‘You are so loved.’ 

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden remained in hiding on Tuesday, not appearing in public at the White House. The only event on his public schedule was his daily intelligence briefing although the public schedule doesn’t reflect all of the president’s activities for the day.

The White House called a lid shortly after 2 pm ET, meaning there would be no public activities by the president, who returned from his trip to India and Vietnam late Monday night. That was a few hours after McCarthy made his impeachment announcement. 

The last Democratic president to be impeached was Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton. Republican President Donald Trump was impeached twice. Neither president was convicted by the Senate. 

Hillary Clinton was at the White House on Tuesday for her first public appearance at the  presidential residence and workplace since her 2016 election loss to Donald Trump.

The former secretary of state did make a private appearance at the White House in 2021 for a dinner to celebrate then outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel early in Biden’s tenure. 

Biden and Clinton were honoring the 2023 Praemium Imperiale Laureates. The Praemium Imperiale is a global arts prize awarded annually by the Japan Art Association for lifetime achievement in the arts. The Praemium Imperiale Laureates were first celebrated at the White House by President Clinton and Mrs. Clinton in 1994. 

It was a Clinton-friendly crowd. Spotted in the audience was Clinton’s longtime aide Huma Abedin; former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of both Clintons;  Capricia Marshall, who was an aide in the Clinton White House; and former Rep. Jerry Moran, a close Clinton ally.

Actress Debra Messing and ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov were also at the event.

In her remarks, Jill Biden also reference the fact that Hillary Clinton will be returning to the classroom. The former secretary of state is teaching a class on global decision making at Columbia University. 

The first lady, who teaches at Northern Virginia Community College, noted Clinton was now a ‘fellow educator.’ 

‘Good luck this semester,’ she told her. 

Clinton thanked the first lady for hosting the event at the White House and paid tribute to her dual work as first lady and teacher. 

She didn’t mention her own presidential race or former president Trump. 

‘You know, Dr. Biden travels across the United States and around the world on behalf of the American people and I can say from some experience that is an exhilarating but exhausting job,’ Clinton said.

‘But throughout it all, she has remained dedicated to her first calling as an educator and mentor of young people. Now as she said, I’ve gone back to teaching recently, after 50 years, and I can attest it’s a hard enough job without being first lady,’ she said.

Earlier Tuesday, McCarthy made the shock announcement he would launch an impeachment inquiry on Biden, accusing the president of an ‘abuse of power and being involved in a ‘culture of corruption’ over son Hunter’s foreign business deals. 

‘House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden’s conduct,’ McCarthy said, speaking at the Capitol. ‘Taken together these allegations paint a picture of a culture of corruption.’

‘These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption. And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives. That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,’ he noted.

‘This logical next step will give our committees, the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public. That’s exactly what we want to know the answers.’

Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.

The president has denied any involvement in his son’s business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden’s public office. 

House investigators are expected to issue subpoenas for the bank records of the president and his family. The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter’s business partners and was referred to as ‘the big guy’ by Hunter’s business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.

An inquiry is the first step in the impeachment process. It is when evidence is gathered for the articles, or charges, of impeachment against an official.

It is a massive step with many pitfalls, including infuriating Republican moderates and many GOP senators, who are skeptical of the issue and causing friction with the White House as budget negotiations are underway. Congress faces a September 30th deadline to fund the government or it will shutdown.

McCarthy, however, is under intense pressure from the conservative wing of his party to make such a move, including threats from some of his own GOP lawmakers to remove him from the speakership.

The White House has repeatedly denied Biden has conducted any wrongdoing. The president himself has said he was not involved with any of Hunter’s business deals. 

The White House called McCarthy’s move ‘extreme politics.’

‘House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. His own Republican members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support. This is extreme politics at its worst,’ White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams said in a statement.