Dem
51
GOP
49
The budget needs to be hammered out, and there are foreign-affairs problems around the globe. So, naturally, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has to prioritize, and he's decided that the most important thing is... impeaching Joe Biden. And so, he's been whipping votes in favor of an impeachment inquiry, and he thinks he's got them.
Truth be told, we thought there was already an impeachment inquiry underway; wasn't that the bone that former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) threw to the Freedom Caucus to try to save his job? As it turns out, that was only mostly an impeachment inquiry, kind of like the Man in Black was only mostly dead.
When McCarthy did that, he was just trying to distract the FCers, since he knew there was no basis for an impeachment, and that trying it would do the Republicans more harm than good. Johnson could be doing the same, although the enormous speed with which he got to work on the matter suggests he might really believe in this cause. He is, after all, a borderline FCer. In any event, this just might be the kind of nonsense that has Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) heading for the hills (see below). (Z)