By Our Foreign Affairs CORRESPONDENT
Published, Monday, July 18, 2022
THE US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN could be impeached if Democrats lose the leadership of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in November midterm elections as Republicans aim to take back the Congress.
If President Joe Biden's party loses control of both chambers, he could end up facing impeachment after several Republicans indicated that GOP majorities would move in that direction.
In January, Republican Senator Ted Cruz said there would be "multiple grounds" for impeaching Biden, while in April, Republican Representative Ken Buck told a virtual meeting that the House Judiciary Committee would "hold the hearings to determine whether impeachment is appropriate. We'll vote on impeachment. And then it will be presented to the full House."
A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll published in May found that 68 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of conservatives wanted Biden to be impeached if Republicans take the House, while 53 percent of Republicans believed a GOP-led House would impeach him.
Articles of impeachment can be passed by a simple majority vote in the House but a president can only be removed by a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate. This has never happened and it appears unlikely Republicans will have the necessary number of seats in 2023.
However, former President Donald Trump was impeached twice - in 2020 and 2021 - and on both occasions he was acquitted by the Senate. There is nothing to prevent a Republican-led House voting on articles of impeachment even if there is little chance of conviction.
Political experts said it was likely Republicans could consider impeachment but they could pay a political price if they attempted it.
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