As President Joe Biden faces more calls to withdraw from the presidential race, Republican lawmakers are faced with a consequential decision themselves: They can either use Biden’s vulnerabilities in their favor to try to impeach or remove him from office, or they can continue to let Democrats squirm as cracks form within their party.
About 20 Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to step aside, creating an intraparty windstorm as the party actively reconsider their presidential ticket just weeks ahead of the nominating convention. The private, and very much public, turmoil has created an opening for Republicans to weaken Biden ahead of the November election — while also using his own party’s skepticism against him.
Questions surrounding Biden’s mental acuity have served as fuel for GOP investigations into the president, with House Oversight James Comer (R-KY) accusing White House staff of “running interference” for the president as he deals with “cognitive decline.” Comer has since subpoenaed three Biden administration staff members while also requesting testimony from Biden’s physician about his alleged involvement in a defunct healthcare company tied to the president’s brother.
The Oversight Committee has also used concerns about Biden’s mental acuity to accelerate its ongoing impeachment efforts.
“The fact that President Biden is declining mentally and Hunter Biden acts as a gatekeeper in the White House shows the need to remove Joe Biden from public office is even more pressing,” a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “We will continue to work with the other committees to finalize and release a joint impeachment inquiry report as expeditiously as possible.”
Other House Republicans are looking to use worries about Biden’s cognitive state as a way to remove him from office before the end of his term. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced a resolution that would implore Vice President Kamala Harris to evoke the 25th Amendment, a move that several in House GOP leadership have supported.
“In good conscience, if I was in the Biden Cabinet, I would be wrestling with that,” said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). “Desperate times call for desperate measures. I think the 25th Amendment is appropriate here.”
However, the House does not have the authority to execute the 25th Amendment — leaving it in the hands of the Biden administration instead. That limitation has caused some GOP lawmakers to throw cold water on the idea.
“It's an executive branch tool specifically for the vice president in the president's Cabinet,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). “You can see why it's there. But it's a very narrow power to be exercised.”
"That's not something that we do. That's something that his team would have to initiate,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD).
Even if Republicans did move forward with impeaching or seeking to remove Biden from office, the party has made clear it has no plans to encourage a change at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“He is their candidate. They chose him,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told the Washington Examiner. “He's got the delegates. He's got the fundraising. We need to let them let the cards play out as they will. Let Joe Biden go up against Donald Trump .”
Others are encouraging their colleagues to stay out of it completely as a way to keep the focus on Democrats and their intraparty dissension.
“It's totally up to the Democrats, and we Republicans have no say, nor should we, in who the Democratic nominee is,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). “This is something that the Democrats are going to have to work out."
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Meanwhile, some Republicans have argued that even if Democrats figure out their candidate problem, the party will face bigger problems when voters head to the polls in November.
"I don't think it's going to make any difference with that open border the way it is,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). “It's a huge, huge problem for the Democrats, along with everything else that's going on. They got more problems than Biden.”
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