Kevin McCarthy and Biden’s potential impeachment inquiry

For much of the nation’s history, impeachment power was seldom used by Congress. Just three of the first 42 presidents were subjected to an impeachment inquiry and only two faced floor votes on charges. Donald Trump made history by becoming the first president to be impeached twice by the U.S. House of Representatives. (The Senate acquitted him both times.)

Since then, Trump and his allies have nursed a bitter resentment against Democrats for repeatedly subjecting Trump to the once-seldom-used process. (They are also furious about the indictments the former president faces amid his bid for reelection.)

After reclaiming the House majority, far-right Republicans have stepped up their investigations into the president, his son Hunter and their family finances.

Though these probes have yet to unearth any wrongdoing on the part of the president, lawmakers have pressed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) to expand them. On Sunday, McCarthy signaled a willingness to green-light an impeachment inquiry. Will it happen? And will lawmakers ever vote on charges?

Hello, my name is Erin B. Logan. I cover Congress for the L.A. Times. Today, we are going to discuss the Biden family, House Republicans and impeachment.

Behind the push

Much of the recent saga stems from uncorroborated allegations that the president financially benefited from his son’s overseas dealings. An Internal Revenue Service whistle-blower also alleged interference from Biden administration officials during a probe of Biden’s son. There is not evidence proving either allegation, but some House Republicans have seized on it and pushed McCarthy to open an impeachment inquiry.

(Hunter’s plea deal over federal gun and tax evasion charges collapsed in July, and Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland earlier this month appointed a special counsel to probe his financial and business dealings, the Associated Press reported.)

Though McCarthy said he would move to open a probe, it’s unclear if he has enough Republicans on board to formally approve an impeachment inquiry. Still, during a Sunday interview on Fox News, McCarthy said that impeachment is a “natural step forward.”

Lawmakers pick sides

Trump has been pressing his party to impeach Biden. On Sunday, he wrote on TruthSocial that his party needed to “Either IMPEACH the BUM, or fade into OBLIVION.”

Still, many Republicans are unsure if it’s worth doing due to the lack of evidence. In an interview with the Hill, Nebraskan Rep. Don Bacon said he thought that “there should be a direct link to the president in some evidence” before the party moves to an impeachment inquiry.

He added: “We should have some clear evidence of a high crime or misdemeanor, not just assuming there may be one. I think we need to have more concrete evidence to go down that path.”

In a Monday interview on CNN, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans itching for an impeachment inquiry of taking “orders from Donald Trump, their puppet master in chief who has directed them to persecute and to go after Joe Biden.”

The latest from Trumpland

—Former President Trump will face trial on March 4, 2024, for four felony charges related to his alleged efforts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election, Times writer Sarah D. Wire reported. That means jury selection would begin a day before Super Tuesday on March 5, when California, Texas and a dozen other states hold their presidential primaries.

—Trump’s mugshot is worth over $7 million, his reelection campaign claims, Times writer Faith Pinho reported. His campaign seized on the history-making photo, which was taken when he was booked last week at Georgia’s Fulton County Jail, and capitalized on its unique earning potential to promote a series of campaign products plastered with the picture.

The view from Washington

—Previously classified documents show then-President Nixon’s knowledge of the 1973 Chile coup, Times writer Tracy Wilkinson reported. The bloody coup led to the death of the Chilean president, leftist leader Salvador Allende and installed years of brutal right-wing military rule headed by Gen. Augusto Pinochet in what had been until then a promising young democracy.

—The blood thinner Eliquis and popular diabetes treatments including Jardiance are among the first drugs that will be targeted for price negotiations in an effort to cut Medicare costs, the Associated Press reported. The Biden administration on Tuesday released a list of 10 drugs for which the federal government will take a first-ever step: negotiating drug prices directly with the manufacturer.

—President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s family to mark Monday’s 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, where King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the Associated Press reported. It comes two days after Saturday’s attack at a Jacksonville, Fla., store in which three Black people were shot to death by a white man wearing a mask and firing a weapon emblazoned with a swastika.

The view from California

—An employee at the California Correctional Center sent federal immigration authorities a list of people they believed were subject to deportation, Times writer Andrea Castillo reported. The list noted that most of those named were born outside the U.S. or had an unknown birthplace; but 12 people were listed as having been born in this country.

—California was on the cutting edge in 2018 when it passed a digital privacy law that allows consumers to request companies to delete their personal information, Times writer Queenie Wong reported. Legislation under consideration in Sacramento would make it easier by allowing consumers to make just one request to get every data broker to delete their personal information.

—The California Senate will get a new leader after Democrats on Monday tapped a North Coast lawmaker as the next president pro tem of the upper house, Times writer Taryn Luna reported. State Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) will take over for Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) at a yet-to-be-determined date in 2024. The transition in the Senate comes after a busy weekend of political wrangling over the succession.

—Two more challengers joined the crowded field looking to unseat Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón in 2024: a leader of the union that has been his chief antagonist during his first term and a veteran judge frustrated by watching the progressive prosecutor‘s policies play out in his courtroom, Times writer James Queally reported.

The Associated Press contributed reporting. Sign up for our California Politics newsletter to get the best of The Times’ state politics reporting. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and send pictures of your adorable furbabies to me at erin.logan@latimes.com.