WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Republicans whose elections in swing districts next year will determine which party gains control of the House are overwhelmingly voicing their support for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's into President Joe Biden. It's a stance, Democrats say, that could come back to haunt them.
McCarthy spared the Republican lawmakers from having to take a vote to launch the impeachment investigation, a likely signal he didn't have the votes to succeed. Yet many of the 18 Republicans representing districts that Biden won in 2020 were quick to say they supported McCarthy's launch despite the potential political risk back home.
鈥淚 think the American people deserve to know the facts and I am looking forward to seeing what the outcome of the inquiry is," said Rep. Jen Kiggans, who represents a Virginia district she won in 2022, but Biden carried by nearly 2 percentage points in 2020.
If the inquiry does lead to an impeachment vote, history suggests it won't necessarily be helpful for the impeachers. House Republicans lost five seats in the 1998 election a few weeks before impeaching President Bill Clinton. Democrats made those surprising gains even though the party that controls the White House usually struggles in midterm elections.
Democrats need only a handful of seats to win back control of the House next year, as Republicans control the chamber by the narrowest of margins with a 222-212 majority. Rep. Suzan DelBene, the chair of the campaign arm for House Democrats, gave a preview of the political arguments to come, saying vulnerable House Republicans are not focusing on meeting the needs of voters while pursuing a 鈥渟ham impeachment.鈥�
鈥淭hey are unfit to govern,鈥� she said. 鈥淗ouse Democrats will make sure people know that as we continue to focus on growing the middle class, lowering costs and creating jobs.鈥�
Rep. Richard Hudson, the chair of the campaign arm for House Republicans, dismissed the threat the impeachment investigation may have for swing-district Republicans. He said voters want transparency and accountability in government.
鈥淎s long as we follow the facts, I don鈥檛 think it hurts us,鈥� Hudson said.
An AP-NORC poll that two-thirds of Republicans but just 7% of Democrats are highly concerned about whether President Biden committed wrongdoing related to his son Hunter Biden鈥檚 business dealings. About one-third of those identifying themselves as independent said they were extremely or very concerned.
The Congressional Integrity Project, a Democratic-aligned group, has already launched digital ads hammering the probe in the 18 Republican-led districts that Biden won. The ads frame the impeachment inquiry as hatched by McCarthy and conservative firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in an effort to help former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a rematch with Biden in 2024. The ads call on the lawmakers to 鈥渇ocus on real priorities, not bogus impeachment stunts."
Many of the Republicans in Biden-won districts are from California and New York. They'll need to win over independents and moderates to win, and ads aligning them with Greene and Trump are designed to make that job harder for them.
Brad Woodhouse, a longtime Democratic strategist and senior adviser to the group, said Republicans have failed to get signature priorities over the finish line while fighting amongst themselves over lifting the debt ceiling and funding the government. That's a vulnerability that will be magnified during an impeachment fight, he said.
鈥淪hort of impeachment, it wouldn鈥檛 be hard to go say that this Republican-led Congress has failed miserably to address the issues you care about,鈥� Woodhouse said of the message to voters. 鈥淏ut when you combine it with having wasted half a year or whatever it is on impeachment, it鈥檚 going to be a really powerful message for the challengers to these Republican members."
Even as they say they support McCarthy's effort, some of the swing district Republicans emphasize that they'll be focused on other issues, clearly aware of the criticism coming their way.
Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told reporters the impeachment inquiry is "going to consume a lot of your attention. It鈥檚 not going to consume a lot of my attention.鈥�
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., said the decision to elevate investigations of Biden 鈥渨as the speaker鈥檚 call,鈥� and all they were embarking on was a fact-seeking mission. He said he wasn't worried about how the inquiry would play politically for him back home.
鈥淭his right now is not on my plate. But nevertheless, I think my constituents deserve some answers," LaLota said.
The freshmen lawmaker, along with other likely holdouts like Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., were offered private briefings from leadership this week in order to assuage any concerns they had about moving forward with an inquiry.
McCarthy was asked Wednesday how he won over the impeachment skeptics in his caucus.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of accusations out there you just want the answers to. Impeachment inquiry simply allows Congress 鈥� Republicans and Democrats 鈥� to be able to get the answers to the questions," McCarthy said.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who will be leading the inquiry, said some lawmakers with concerns did reach out to him in the days before McCarthy's announcement.
鈥淚 tried to explain to them that my goal has always been just to get the facts," Comer said. 鈥淎nd, at the end of the day, if the facts lead to impeachment, then I'm sorry, we're going to have to vote on impeachment. But the facts clearly lead to an impeachment inquiry."
Just two weeks ago, McCarthy told Breitbart News that if House Republicans moved forward with the impeachment inquiry, it would come with a formal vote on the House floor. He said "the American people deserve to be heard on this matter through their elected representatives.鈥�
But he went a different route this week and launched the probe unilaterally, though it's possible he could seek a vote later on. The maneuver shielded the Republicans in swing districts from having to cast that vote to start an impeachment investigation, though many said they would have voted yes.
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., was one of them. He won a district that Biden carried by a whopping 13 percentage points.
鈥淭here seems to be this national narrative that people in swing districts don鈥檛 want accountability and the truth. Right? That鈥檚 not the case,鈥� Garcia said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 smoke there, so we have a requirement to go investigate that and see if there鈥檚 fire there.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Farnoush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Kevin Freking, The Associated Press
