[House Report 118-314]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
118th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 118-314
======================================================================
DIRECTING CERTAIN COMMITTEES TO CONTINUE THEIR ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS
AS PART OF THE EXISTING HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INQUIRY INTO WHETHER
SUFFICIENT GROUNDS EXIST FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO EXERCISE
ITS CONSTITUTIONAL POWER TO IMPEACH JOSEPH BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
_______
December 12, 2023.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Cole, from the Committee on Rules,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H. Res. 918]
The Committee on Rules, to whom was referred the resolution
(H. Res. 918) directing certain committees to continue their
ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of
Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist
for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional
power to impeach Joseph Biden, President of the United States
of America, and for other purposes.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 5
Committee Votes.................................................. 5
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations................. 8
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 8
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 8
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 8
Changes in Existing House Rules Made by the Resolution, as
Reported....................................................... 11
Dissenting Views................................................. 12
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H. Res. 918, introduced by Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND),
directs certain committees to continue their ongoing
investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives
inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of
Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach
Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States of America. The
resolution lays out the procedure for the Committees on the
Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight and Accountability to
continue their ongoing investigation in open hearings,
authorizes the release of deposition transcripts, and provides
additional procedures in furtherance of the impeachment
inquiry. The resolution hereby adopted in H. Res. 918 also
authorizes the chairs of the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways
and Means, and Oversight and Accountability to initiate or
intervene in judicial proceedings to enforce certain subpoenas,
allows the Office of General Counsel of the House of
Representatives, with authorization of the Speaker, to
represent any of the above-mentioned committees in any judicial
proceeding initiated or intervened in pursuant to the authority
described in the resolution, and permits that the Office of
General Counsel of the House of Representatives to retain
private counsel, either for pay or pro bono, to assist in the
representation of any such committees in any judicial
proceeding initiated or intervened in pursuant to the authority
described in the resolution.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
The Constitution vests the House of Representatives with
the ``sole Power of Impeachment'' and provides that the
``President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the
United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for,
and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and
Misdemeanors.''
As Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist No. 65,
impeachment involves ``those offenses which proceed from the
misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or
violation of some public trust.'' In our nation's history, such
offenses have included bribery, abuse of power, obstruction of
justice, obstruction of Congress, perjury, and using one's
office for personal gain. Hamilton described impeachment as a
``bridle in the hands of the legislative body upon the
executive servants of the government.'' As an exclusive
Congressional authority, impeachment serves as a critical check
on the other branches of the federal government. It also
protects our constitutional republic from officers who engage
in malfeasance. Once an officer is impeached and convicted, he
is automatically removed from office and can be disqualified
from ever holding office again.
As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit has stated, ``To level the grave accusation that a
President may have committed `Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors,' U.S. Const. art. II, Sec. 4, the
House must be appropriately informed.'' And an impeachment
inquiry is the traditional means by which the House assembles
and evaluates that information. Throughout our nation's
history, it has been recognized that an impeachment inquiry
strengthens the House's authority to obtain information from
the Executive Branch. For example, President James K. Polk
stated that the authority of the House in an impeachment
investigation ``would penetrate into the most secret recesses
of the Executive Departments'' and would include the power to
``command the attendance of any and every agent of the
Government, and compel them to present all papers, public or
private, official or unofficial, and to testify on oath to all
facts within their knowledge.''
On September 12, 2023, the Speaker of the House directed
the Committees on the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight
and Accountability to conduct an inquiry to determine whether
sufficient grounds existed for the impeachment of President
Biden.
On September 27, 2023, the Chairs of these Committees
released a memorandum entitled ``Impeachment Inquiry.'' In that
memorandum, the Chairs explained that for the past several
months, they had been investigating ``(1) foreign money
received by the Biden family, (2) President Joe Biden's
involvement in his family's foreign business entanglements, and
(3) steps taken by the Biden Administration to slow, hamper, or
otherwise impede the criminal investigation of the President's
son, Robert Hunter Biden, which involves funds received by the
Biden family from foreign sources.'' And they reported that,
``[a]s a result of these investigations, the Committees ha[d]
uncovered significant new information that raises serious
concerns as to whether the President has abused his federal
office to enrich his family and conceal his and/or his family's
misconduct.'' Among other things, the Committees found that (1)
the Biden family and their business associates received over
$24 million from foreign sources over the course of
approximately five years; (2) President Biden was personally
involved in his family's foreign business dealings, and those
business arrangements intersected with his official duties; and
(3) the President had not been truthful about his family's
foreign business entanglements. The Chairs also stated that
they had uncovered substantial information, including through
whistleblowers, indicating that the Biden Administration has
obstructed the criminal investigation into Hunter Biden. This
information includes evidence that Department of Justice
personnel blocked avenues of inquiry that could have led to
evidence incriminating President Biden and impeded efforts to
prosecute Hunter Biden for tax crimes relating to foreign
business arrangements that could have implicated President
Biden.
Given the evidence already assembled by the Committees, the
Chairs concluded that a formal impeachment inquiry was
appropriate and necessary. In particular, the Impeachment
Inquiry memorandum set forth in detail ``information indicating
that President Biden may have: (1) performed official acts or
changed United States policy as a direct result of the foreign
money received by his family; (2) provided access to his
federal office in exchange for his family's receipt of foreign
money; and/or (3) knowingly participated in a scheme where
foreign business interests were led to believe that they would
gain access to him (in his official capacity) if they were to
pay substantial amounts of money to his family.'' And if any of
these things had occurred, the Chairs noted that ``they would
constitute a grave abuse of the high office to which the
American people have entrusted President Biden.''
In light of the evidence amassed by the Committees at that
point, the Chairs stated that the impeachment inquiry would
focus on the following questions:
1. Did Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President,
take any official action or effect any change in
government policy because of money or other things of
value provided to his family or him from foreign
interests?
2. Did Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President,
abuse his office of public trust by providing foreign
interests with access to him and his office in exchange
for payments to his family or him?
3. Did Joe Biden, as Vice President and/or President,
abuse his office of public trust by knowingly
participating in a scheme to enrich himself or his
family by giving foreign interests the impression that
they would receive access to him and his office in
exchange for payments to his family or him?
4. Did Joe Biden abuse his power as President to
impede, obstruct, or otherwise hinder investigations
(including Congressional investigations) or the
prosecution of Hunter Biden?
However, the Chairs indicated that ``because the
impeachment inquiry will go where [the] evidence leads, the
investigation could head in directions that the Committees do
not currently foresee.''
Since beginning the impeachment inquiry, the Committees
have taken a significant number of investigative steps,
including but not limited to, subpoenaing bank records of
individual Biden family members as well as entities related to
them, issuing deposition subpoenas to Hunter Biden and James
Biden, conducting transcribed interviews with Department of
Justice and Internal Revenue Service officials involved in the
Hunter Biden investigation, and requesting numerous transcribed
interviews of witnesses to the Biden family's business
dealings. These investigative activities have already uncovered
additional information suggesting that President Biden was
directly involved in and personally benefitted from his
family's business entanglements.
Given the progress that has been made in the impeachment
inquiry to date, the Rules Committee believes that the inquiry
is now at the stage where it would be helpful to establish a
formal procedural framework for its conduct.
Additionally, the White House has argued that the
impeachment inquiry lacks constitutional legitimacy because it
commenced without a House vote. In particular, on November 17,
2023, Richard Sauber, Special Counsel to the President, wrote
to the Chairs of the Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight
and Accountability and expressed the view that the House may
not utilize compulsory process pursuant to the impeachment
power absent a vote of the full House to authorize such an
inquiry.
The White House's position is inconsistent with the
Constitution, relevant law, and House precedents. The
Constitution, which delegates to the House the sole power of
impeachment, includes no requirement that the full House vote
to start an inquiry. In fact, Article I, Section 5 provides
that the House has the sole authority to determine its ``Rules
of its Proceedings,'' which would include rules governing
impeachment. Neither do the Rules of the House of
Representatives contain such a requirement. Moreover, the House
has launched several impeachment inquiries without a full House
vote, including those involving Judge Harry Claiborne, Judge
Alcee Hastings, Judge Walter Nixon, and President Donald J.
Trump. And four years ago, a federal district court expressly
rejected the argument that a House resolution is required to
begin an impeachment inquiry. See In re Application of Comm. On
Judiciary, 414 F. Supp. 3d 129, 168 (D.D.C. 2019) (``Even in
cases of presidential impeachment, a House resolution has
never, in fact, been required to begin an impeachment
inquiry.''), aff'd, 951 F.3d 589 (D.C. Cir. 2020), vacated and
remanded sub nom. on other grounds, Dep't of Justice v. House
Comm. on the Judiciary, 142 S. Ct. 46 (2021).
Nevertheless, given that the White House has indicated that
it will brandish this faulty argument in an effort to stonewall
the investigation, the Rules Committee believes that it is
prudent at this time for the full House to vote to direct the
Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and
the Judiciary to continue this impeachment inquiry.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee on Rules met on December 12, 2023, in open
session and ordered H. Res. 918 favorably reported to the House
by a record vote of 9 yeas and 4 nays, a quorum being present.
COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes
on the motion to report the legislation and amendments thereto.
A motion by Mr. Cole to report the resolution to the House with
a favorable recommendation was agreed to by a record vote of 9
yeas and 4 nays, a quorum being present. The names of Members
voting for and against follow:
Rules Committee record vote No. 185
Date: December 12, 2023
Motion to order H. Res. 918 reported favorably to the
House. Agreed to: 9-4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Yea Mr. McGovern...................... Nay
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Yea Ms. Scanlon....................... Nay
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Yea Mr. Neguse........................ Nay
Mr. Massie...................................... Yea Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Nay
Mr. Norman...................................... Yea
Mr. Roy......................................... Yea
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Yea
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Yea
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Yea
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The committee also considered the following amendments on
which record votes were requested. The names of Members voting
for and against follow:
Rules Committee record vote No. 176
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 1) offered by Mr. McGovern. Defeated: 4-9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Nay Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 177
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 2) offered by Ms. Leger Fernandez. Defeated:
4-9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Nay Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 178
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 3) offered by Ms. Scanlon. Defeated: 4-9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Nay Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 179
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 4) offered by Mr. Neguse. Defeated: 4-9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Nay Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 180
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 5) offered by Ms. Leger Fernandez. Defeated:
4-9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Nay Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 181
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 6) offered by Ms. Scanlon. Defeated: 4-6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... ............ Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. ............ Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... ............ Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 182
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 7) offered by Mr. McGovern. Defeated: 4-7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. ............ Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... ............ Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 183
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 8) offered by Mr. McGovern. Defeated: 4-8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. ............ Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rules Committee record vote No. 184
Date: December 12, 2023
Amendment (no. 9) offered by Mr. Neguse. Defeated: 4-9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Majority Members Vote Minority Members Vote
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Burgess..................................... Nay Mr. McGovern...................... Yea
Mr. Reschenthaler............................... Nay Ms. Scanlon....................... Yea
Mrs. Fischbach.................................. Nay Mr. Neguse........................ Yea
Mr. Massie...................................... Nay Ms. Leger Fernandez............... Yea
Mr. Norman...................................... Nay
Mr. Roy......................................... Nay
Mrs. Houchin.................................... Nay
Mr. Langworthy.................................. Nay
Mr. Cole, Chairman.............................. Nay
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee made findings and
recommendations that are reflected in this report.
PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
In furtherance of Congress' legitimate investigative
function, the standing rules of the House provide its
committees with the general authority and tools needed to carry
out most investigations of matters that properly fall within
their jurisdiction. The Rules Committee continues to believe
that these rules have served the House of Representatives well
and have served the public interest when the House conducts
investigations. However, the Rules Committee is occasionally
asked to provide committees with additional tools, beyond those
expressly conferred by House rules, for a specific purpose. The
resolution directs certain committees to continue their ongoing
investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives
inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of
Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach
Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States of America;
authorizes public hearings and the disclosure of deposition
transcripts; and sets forth additional procedures in
furtherance of the impeachment inquiry. The resolution moves
the House's impeachment inquiry into the next phase while
providing rights to the minority and to the President and his
counsel, consistent with previous impeachment inquiries.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this
legislation.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
H. Res. 918 directs the House Committees on Oversight and
Accountability, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary (hereinafter
the three committees or three chairs) to continue their
investigations into whether sufficient grounds exist for the
House to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach President
Joseph R. Biden.
Section 2:
This section provides procedures under which the Committee
on Oversight and Accountability may conduct itself for the
purpose of continuing its ongoing investigation as part of the
existing House inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist
for the House to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach
President Biden. These procedures are consistent with the
procedures adopted in the most recent Presidential impeachment
inquiry. See H. Res. 660 (116th).
This section directs the chair of the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability to designate one or more open
hearings pursuant to the section and provides a specific
process for questioning witnesses in those hearings,
notwithstanding clause 2(j)(2) of rule XI. At the start of
questioning, the chairannounces how many minutes the chair and
ranking minority member are permitted to question the witness during
that round, longer than five minutes and up to 45 minutes per side. The
time available for each period of questioning must be equal for the
chair and ranking minority member. Only the chair and ranking minority
member, or a Committee employee if yielded to by the chair or ranking
member, may question witnesses during these periods. The chair may
announce additional rounds using the same process. Following these
extended questioning periods, the Committee will proceed with
questioning by members of the Committee under the five-minute rule. The
section also provides that the ranking minority member of the Committee
may submit written requests for witness testimony to the chair within
72 hours after notice is given for the first open hearing held pursuant
to these procedures. The requested witness testimony must be relevant
to the investigation described in the first section and must be
accompanied by a detailed written justification of the relevance of
such testimony. This notice requirement will allow for a full
evaluation of minority witness requests.
This section also authorizes the ranking minority member of
the Committee, with concurrence of the chair of the committee,
to require, as deemed necessary to the investigation--by
subpoena or otherwise--the attendance and testimony of any
person (including at the taking of a deposition), the
production of documents, and by interrogatory, the furnishing
of information. If the chair declines to concur in a proposed
action of the ranking minority member, the ranking minority
member shall have the right to refer to the Committee for
decision the question of whether such authority shall be
exercised and the chair shall convene the Committee promptly to
render that decision, subject to the notice requirements and
good-cause exception for a committee meeting under clause
2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI. Subpoenas and interrogatories
authorized by this section may be signed by the ranking
minority member and may be served by any person designated by
the ranking member. The section authorizes the chair of the
Committee to make transcripts of depositions conducted by the
Committee in furtherance of its investigation publicly
available in electronic form, with appropriate redactions for
classified and other sensitive information. The section also
permits the Committee to issue a report with its findings and
any recommendations, appending any appropriate information and
materials with respect to their investigation. The report may
be prepared in consultation with the chairs of the Committees
on Ways and Means and on the Judiciary. The chair of the
Committee may transmit any committee report and appendices,
along with any views filed pursuant to clause 2(l) of rule XI,
to the Committee on the Judiciary and make the report publicly
available in electronic form, with appropriate redactions to
any part of the report to protect classified and other
sensitive information.
Section 3:
This section provides procedures under which the Committee
on Ways and Means may conduct itself for the purpose of
continuing its ongoing investigation as part of the existing
House inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the
House to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach President
Biden. These procedures mirror the procedures set forth in
section two with respect to the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability.
Section 4:
This section provides procedures under which the Committee
on the Judiciary may conduct itself for the purpose of
continuing its ongoing investigation as part of the existing
House inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the
House to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach President
Biden. These procedures mirror the procedures set forth in
section two with respect to the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability but do not contain provisions regarding the
transmission of a report to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Section 5:
This section authorizes the Committee on the Judiciary to
conduct impeachment proceedings pursuant to the procedures,
including those that allow for the participation of the
President and his counsel, issued by the chair of the Committee
on Rules and printed in the Congressional Record. Any such
proceedings would likely be conducted subsequent to the
investigative activities described in sections two, three, and
four.
The Judiciary Committee is also authorized to promulgate
additional procedures for hearings held pursuant to this
section of the resolution as it deems necessary, provided that
they are not inconsistent with the procedures inserted in the
Congressional Record by the chair of the Committee on Rules,
the rules of the Committee, and the rules of the House. In
similar language to the subpoena power referenced in section
four, the section also authorizes the ranking member of the
Judiciary Committee, with concurrence of the chair of the
committee, to require, as deemed necessary to the
investigation--by subpoena or otherwise--the attendance and
testimony of any person (including at the taking of a
deposition), the production of documents, and by interrogatory,
the furnishing of information. If the chair declines to concur
in a proposed action of the ranking minority member, the
ranking minority member shall have the right to refer to the
committee for decision the question of whether such authority
shall be exercised and the chair shall convene the committee
promptly to render that decision, subject to notice
requirements and good-cause exception for a committee meeting
under clause 2(g)(3)(A) and (B) of rule XI. Subpoenas and
interrogatories authorized by this section may be signed by the
ranking minority member and may be served by any person
designated by the ranking member. These procedures are
consistent with the procedures adopted in previous Presidential
impeachment inquiries. See H. Res. 660 (116th).
Finally, the section authorizes the Judiciary Committee to
report to the House such resolutions, articles of impeachment,
or other recommendations as it deems proper.
Section 6:
This section provides that H. Res. 917 is adopted upon the
adoption of H. Res. 918.
CHANGES IN EXISTING HOUSE RULES MADE BY THE RESOLUTION,
AS REPORTED
In compliance with clause 3(g) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that this
resolution does not propose to repeal or amend a standing rule
of the House.
DISSENTING VIEWS
This resolution is nothing but an act of political
vengeance by the House Republican Majority. Rather than working
with Democrats to help the American people, House Republicans
have decided--after nearly a year of failed investigations that
have yielded no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden--that
they will now vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry. In
doing so, they are wasting the House's precious time and
resources on an extreme political stunt that will do nothing to
make people's lives better.
Article II, Section 4 of the United States Constitution
states: ``The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers
of the United States, shall be removed from Office on
Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other
high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'' Initiating an inquiry into
whether the President of the United States has committed
impeachable high Crimes and Misdemeanors is one of the most
serious and somber actions the House of Representatives
canundertake. Given the gravity of impeachment, it is disgraceful that
this House Republican Majority has chosen to initiate this vengeful
impeachment inquiry with such a shocking disregard for the facts.
The goal of this inquiry resolution is not to safeguard our
democracy against wrongdoing by the President. Their true
motives are clear: House Republicans and former President Trump
cannot accept that the twice-impeached former President lost
the 2020 election. And so now, after the insurrection on
January 6th failed, the Republican Majority is attempting to
mire President Biden in the cloud of an impeachment inquiry to
aid in the disgraced former President's re-election efforts.
Ironically, this resolution, and the effort it is abetting,
will only serve to further stain this House Republican Majority
as extreme, unserious, ineffective, and unable to govern.
After almost a year of investigation, dozens of hours of
testimony, and tens of thousands of pages of documents turned
over and examined, the facts tell the same story: there is no
wrongdoing by President Biden, let alone an impeachable
offense. The House Republican Majority has resorted to cherry-
picking and distorting information to justify continuing this
sham investigation aimed at satisfying President Trump's
demands for retribution. Since his impeachments, he has been
indicted multiple times and now faces 91 felony counts. This
impeachment inquiry is clearly not about evidence. The former
President has said as much, stating: ``Either IMPEACH the BUM,
or fade into OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!''
The contrast between the House Democratic Majority's
impeachments of President Trump and the House Republican
Majority's impeachment inquiry into President Biden could not
be clearer. President Trump was first impeached for attempting
to extort the President of Ukraine into digging up political
dirt on President Biden amid the 2020 Presidential Election. He
was then impeached once more for inciting an insurrection that
took place on January 6, 2021, to overturn the 2020
Presidential Election. President Biden is now facing an
impeachment inquiry simply so House Republicans can try to help
President Trump get back to the White House. Democrats took
impeachment seriously and with the gravity it demands.
Republicans are playing political games with one of the most
awesome powers at their disposal.
In doing so, House Republicans are also trying to confuse
and conceal the truth about this impeachment inquiry from the
American people. When the Democratic Majority in the 116th
Congress passed its impeachment inquiry resolution, it required
an ``open and transparent'' investigative proceeding by the
House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). The
Democratic impeachment inquiry resolution required HPSCI to
hold at least one public hearing (HPSCI eventually held a total
of seven hearings), and the resolution required HPSCI to issue
a report setting forth its findings and transmitting that
report to the Judiciary Committee to make public and consider
in their decision on whether to draw up articles of
impeachment.
In contrast, this Republican Majority's impeachment inquiry
resolution deleted references to an ``open and transparent''
investigation, which was featured in the Democratic resolution
language, and does not require any investigative committee to
hold even one single public hearing, nor does it require any
investigative committee to issue a final report on their
findings. Those committees may do so currently, and if this
impeachment inquiry resolution passes the House, they may do so
after. Openness and transparency appear to be simply optional
during this Republican Majority's impeachment inquiry. But it
should come as no surprise that Republicans do not want to
require these investigating committees to hold open hearings or
require them to issue a final report of their alleged findings
because when they have tried to be open and transparent with
the American people thus far, their sham investigation has
fallen flat.
Republicans have admitted how poorly their attempts to have
public hearings to make their case to the American people have
gone. On September 28, 2023, following the only public hearing
held thus far by the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
during this investigation, a senior Republican aide remarked,
``Picking witnesses that refute House Republicans'' arguments
for impeachment is mind-blowing. This is an unmitigated
disaster.'' After this ``unmitigated disaster,'' Hunter Biden
himself has since offered to come and testify publicly in front
of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Yet,
Chairman Comer has refused that offer. It is clear--given the
weakness of their impeachment arguments--why Republicans do not
want to require any more public hearings or reports. When
Republicans cannot distort facts and cherry-pick evidence
attained behind closed doors, their partisan political plot is
laid bare to the American people, and it becomes clear what the
facts truly show: President Biden has done nothing wrong.
This impeachment inquiry resolution also deems as passed a
second resolution that, among other things, authorizes the
investigating committees to initiate proceedings before a
Federal court to enforce subpoenas issued to two career
Department of Justice prosecutors regarding ongoing
prosecutions. Although it is a longstanding policy for the
Department of Justice to not comment on ongoing investigations,
the Department of Justice has made Special Counsel David Weiss,
two U.S. Attorneys, and the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney
General for Criminal Matters at the Department of Justice, Tax
Division, who supervises the two career line prosecutors,
available for transcribed interviews. Despite this, and with
complete disregard for the credible threats that career
prosecutors and FBI agents have faced, House Republicans--
without even a separate vote of the House on this matter--are
authorizing the committees to ask a court to force these two
career line prosecutors, who have served multiple
Administrations of both parties, to answer questions about an
ongoing prosecution. Sadly, it is clear that not only are House
Republicans determined to continue this sham political
impeachment inquiry to help the re-election of former President
Trump, but they are even willing to interfere in ongoing
criminal investigations in order to do so.
After nearly a year of investigating, House Republicans
have already collected an extraordinary amount of testimony,
bank records, and reports in their investigation of Hunter
Biden's business activities. And this material is in addition
to the material already collected by Senate Republicans who
conducted their own investigation of Hunter Biden in 2020. The
Biden-Harris Administration, private banks, and private
citizens have fully accommodated these congressional requests.
For example, the enormous body of existing information
collected as part of this investigation includes: more than
38,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records; more than 2,000 pages
of suspicious activity reports (SARs) provided by the U.S.
Department of the Treasury; dozens of hours of testimony from
two of Hunter Biden's business partners, a senior official from
the National Archives and Records Administration, seven federal
agents assigned to the investigation of Hunter Biden from the
IRS and FBI, a Special Counsel, two U.S. Attorneys, and a high-
ranking official from the Tax Division of the U.S. Department
of Justice; and hundreds of pages of documents from the Hunter
Biden investigation released by the Committee on Ways and
Means.
All the testimony and documents that are available prove
again and again that House Republicans have zero evidence of
wrongdoing by President Biden. Still adamant that this sham
inquiry continue, House Republicans are now attempting to
weaponize the inquiry process itself. It seems that nothing--
including the facts--will stop House Republicans on their quest
to try and aid the former, twice-impeached President's election
chances by trumping up a bogus impeachment case against the
current President. This impeachment inquiry resolution is just
the next step in this plan.
The unfortunate reality is that this inquiry effort is also
just another in a long line of disasters for this Republican
Majority. Over the course of their first year in charge, House
Republicans have demonstrated that they are utterly incapable
of governing and are not up to the task of being in the
majority. At this point in the 117th Congress, Democrats had
passed 71 bills into law to improve the lives of the American
people. At this point in the 116th Congress under divided
government, Democrats had passed 78 bills into law. Contrast
that with this Republican Majority, which has only passed 22
bills into law. When it has come time to fund the government or
to ensure the full faith and credit of the United States, the
Republican Majority has had to turn to Democratic Members of
Congress to pass critical, must-pass pieces of legislation.
Republican Leaders are failing the American people, and they
are using this impeachment inquiry to distract from their own
incompetence and inability to govern.
We urge our Republican colleagues to abandon their extreme
agenda, abandon the demands of former President Trump to
``either impeach the bum, or fade into oblivion,'' and instead
to work with Democrats and the Administration in a bipartisan
way to address the needs of the American people.
James P. McGovern,
Ranking Member.
Joe Neguse,
Mary Gay Scanlon,
Teresa Leger Fernandez,
Members of Congress.