Pence says he would’ve preferred impeachment inquiry vote, but defers to House GOP leadership

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he would have “preferred” a vote on an impeachment inquiry Tuesday but would defer to House Republicans after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) directed committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden without a vote.

“I want to respect Speaker McCarthy’s authority and decision to be able to initiate an impeachment inquiry,” Pence told a reporter in Waterloo, Iowa. “The American people have a right to know whether or not President Biden or his family personally profited during his time serving as Vice President.”

McCarthy had previously said a decision to launch an impeachment inquiry would go to a vote in the House, but on Tuesday he directed an inquiry without one, under pressure from far-right House Republicans like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

The decision leaves McCarthy open to cries of hypocrisy, since he criticized former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for kicking off an impeachment inquiry of former President Trump in the same manner in 2019.

The White House hit back at the inquiry in a memo Wednesday criticizing the press for focusing on the impeachment process instead of the actual evidence turned up by Republicans in their investigations. 

“It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies,” the memo read. “When even House Republican members are admitting that there is simply no evidence that Joe Biden did anything wrong, much less impeachable, that should set off alarm bells for news organizations.”