Republican investigators ready to turn tables on President after midterms

Republican investigators are set to apply the blowtorch to President Biden after the midterms in an attempt to undermine his leadership before a potential rematch with Donald Trump.

US President Joe Biden will face an all-out blitz from Republican investigators after the upcoming midterms.

The midterm elections will define America’s political landscape for the next two years and set the scene for the 2024 presidential election and a potential rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Whether the Republicans will win back a majority in the House of Representatives remains to be seen, but already they are preparing to unleash a blizzard of investigations and legal challenges designed to dog Biden for the rest of his presidential term.

With a Republican-controlled House and a razor-thin majority for either party in the Senate, which is split 50-50, the prospect of significant legislation being passed in the next two years is almost zero. But Trump loyalists in Congress are itching to avenge the two impeachments of the former president and will seek to undermine the other investigations against him as the 2024 presidential race heats up next year. On their list will be:

Republican investigators are preparing to unleash a blizzard of investigations and legal challenges designed to pollute President Biden’s leadership in the lead-up to the next election.

BLOCK JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE

House Republican leaders have shown little interest in investigating the January 6 riot at the Capitol last year, least of all pursuing Trump’s alleged hand in inciting the violence. The Republican minority House leader Kevin McCarthy, who is set to take over from Nancy Pelosi as Speaker if the party wins a majority next week, has defied a subpoena to appear before the January 6 committee investigating the riot and would be certain to shut down the panel at the start of the new Congress in January.

INVESTIGATE HUNTER BIDEN

The trail of salacious revelations about Hunter Biden and questions about his dubious business interests overseas have dogged the president since he took office. Federal prosecutors already believe there is sufficient evidence to charge Biden’s second son with tax crimes, but the Republicans are preparing to dig deeper in an effort to prove the president himself was compromised by his son’s business affairs.

EXAMINE ‘WEAPONISATION’ OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

The Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene filed articles of impeachment against Merrick Garland, the US attorney-general, after the FBI search of Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in August, claiming the raid was a “blatant attempt to persecute a political opponent.” Kevin McCarthy, leader of the House Republicans, warned him to “preserve your documents and clear your calendar”.

IMMIGRATION

Republicans blame the end of Trump-era restrictions on immigration for the surge in violent crime and drug trafficking, and have threatened to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary. “We will give Secretary Mayorkas a reserved parking spot, he will be testifying so much about this,” the House minority whip Steve Scalise said.

COVID-19

Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical adviser, will step down from his government posts in December, but Republican congressmen have signalled they plan to investigate him over the administration vaccination policy and claims he conspired to cover up the origins of the virus.

IMPEACH BIDEN?

Encouraged by Trump and his supporters, some right-wing Republicans have called for Biden to be impeached on the first day of business in a House they control. Trump loyalists will seek to tie Biden to his son’s business affairs. Other potential reasons include the immigration crisis, which the Republicans claim has endangered the US, and the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.

Some Republican leaders have all but admitted that the reason for Biden’s impeachment is incidental: after Trump’s two impeachment trials, many in the party are out for revenge.

The Times