Support for impeaching President Biden is growing within the GOP. Republican squish Rep. Nancy Mace recently expressed interest during a Fox News interview, and she’s no one’s idea of a strong conservative—Donald Trump even endorsed her primary opponent. But her openness to the idea reflects its growing popularity among more conventional Republicans and Conservativism Inc. media. New scandals highlight Biden’s unfitness for office, but the best reason to impeach remains the same: He refuses to enforce immigration law, thus breaking his Oath of Office. Best thing is, pollsters find that Americans agree with Mace [Most want Biden impeached, see GOP dropping ball, by Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner, September 8, 2022]. The question: will timid GOP Congressional leaders, such as minority chief Kevin McCarthy, dare do the right thing?

2) Mace: The first thing we need to do if we're going to look at whether or not the president was involved as vice president, is have an investigation. And that investigation should start, I hope will start on some place like the Oversight Committee, where I sit

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 18, 2022

Mace’s reasoning centers on Hunter Biden’s suspicious business deals. There’s a good chance Hunter’s father was involved in these deals and that they were done as part of pay-to-play schemes. One recent example: the allegation that a Chinese loan Hunter received was to gain influence with his father [Bidens’ $5M interest-free China loan part of ‘pay-to-play’ scheme: Sen. Grassley, by Victor Nava, New York Post, October 18, 2022]. And remember that Tony Bobulinski, Hunter’s former biz pal, fingered POTUS 46 as “the Big Guy” in an email that discussed a business scheme with the Chinese [Hunter Biden’s biz partner called Joe Biden ‘the Big Guy’ in panicked message after Post’s laptop story, by Miranda Devine, New York Post, July 27, 2022].

The other possible reason to impeach: Biden’s threatening to withhold military aid to Saudi Arabia if it lowered oil production. House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik cited both reasons to explain her new openness to impeaching Biden. “When there’s an egregious abuse of power and high crimes and misdemeanors, that means anything is on the table,” she said [Stefanik: Biden impeachment ‘on the table’ for Saudi oil ask, Hunter biz, by Steven Nelson, New York Post, October 17, 2022].

Mace and Stefanik’s interest in impeachment is notable. Mace strongly criticized Trump when she entered Congress in January 2021. While she didn’t vote for impeachment, she spent the most of her time upon assuming office bashing Trump and saying how awful it was for the former president to “incite” the January 6 Mostly Peaceful Protest. Her anti-Trump record is likely why he endorsed her primary challenger [Nancy Mace wobbles on the Trump tightrope, by Olivia Beavers, Politico, May 16, 2022].

Mace survived. Still, she represents a battleground district in South Carolina—she defeated a Democrat in 2020. That a squishy Republican in a purple district is open to impeaching Biden signifies its popularity. Mace has also changed her tone in just a few weeks. In late September, the congresswoman said there is tremendous pressure on Republicans to vote for impeachment if they take back Congress. But she insisted that she pushed back on the idea [Rep. Nancy Mace, who voted against impeaching Trump, says there’s ‘a lot of pressure’ on Republicans to impeach Biden: ‘I think that is something that some folks are considering,’ by Isabella Zavarise, Business Insider, September 25, 2022]. Now she’s publicly entertaining it.

Elise Stefanik is also a squish, albeit one who now aggressively defends Trump. But that wasn’t always the case. She criticized Trump frequently before becoming one of his prime champions during the then-president’s first impeachment. She’s also the third-most powerful Republican (chair of the House Republican Conference, replacing Liz Cheney) in the House. What she supports matters. If she’s open to impeachment, then Congressional Leadership is likely open to it.

One problem: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “I think the country doesn’t like impeachment used for political purposes at all,” he said in an interview this week. “If anyone ever rises to that occasion, you have to, but I think the country wants to heal and…start to see the system that actually works.” Apparently, McCarthy thinks that Trump’s being wrongly impeached means Republicans shouldn’t do the same to Biden [McCarthy downplays prospect of impeaching Biden if GOP wins House, by Amy B Wang and John Wagner, Washington Post, October 19, 2022].

McCarthy’s timidity is nothing new. He’s been saying as much since April.

Many Republicans defer to McCarthy on the matter. Kentucky Rep. James Comer, expected to chair the powerful Oversight Committee if the GOP wins the majority, says the impeachment decision is McCarthy’s. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan says the decision will be left to the party conference.

But these leaders not saying no definitively at least indicates that Republicans realize the popularity of impeachment. They don’t want to completely rule out an idea that may gain credence [House GOP confronts its 2023 rift: Impeachments, by Jordain Carney, Politico, October 7, 2022].

Another sector that is divided: Fox News. Business host Stuart Varney and Fox and Friends’ Brian Kilmeade criticized Stefanik and said it’s a “rotten idea” [Fox Hosts Trash GOP’s ‘Rotten Idea’ to Impeach Biden, by Justin Baragona, Daily Beast, October 18, 2022]. But Tucker Carlson, Fox’s chief star, has endorsed impeachment. Fox contributor Mollie Hemmingway, an influential voice in conservative media, has also endorsed it [Biden should ’obviously be impeached’ based on Democrats and media’s standards, Fox News, October 14, 2022].

The mixed messaging from Fox mirrors the indecision in the GOP and the patriot movement as a whole.

Though Republicans are divided on impeaching Biden, they are willing to support impeaching someone else: Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the unindicted Cuban-Jewish visa fraudster. Earlier this month, Jordan said Mayorkas should be impeached, as did Sen. Ted Cruz and many other prominent Republicans. Even McCarthy doesn’t outright reject impeaching Mayorkas, in contrast to his qualms about Biden.

The impeachment case against Mayorkas is entirely about immigration. Republicans want to make an example out of the DHS chief for the border crisis and his agency’s failure to contain—instead to enable—the invasion [House GOP amps up talk about impeaching Biden’s border chief, posing a test for McCarthy, by Melanie Zanona and Manu Raju, CNN, October 6, 2022].

As well, Mayorkas lied about Border Patrol agents involved in the Whipgate Hoax. The Regime Media went apoplectic last year when a few mounted Border Patrol agents tried to corral Haitian illegal aliens. Journalists claimed agents whipped the illegals, which Mayorkas appeared to believe and condemn. It turned out Mayorkas knew the agents had done no such thing when he denounced them.

Disgraceful. Mayorkas knowingly sold out the honorable men a women of Border Patrol… all to curry favor with the Biden White House.

I’m just a few months, Mayorkas will—rightly—be impeached. https://t.co/D5N0LVccfF

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 12, 2022

But Mayorkas is following Biden’s orders. It’s Biden’s fault that Mayorkas’ DHS has handcuffed Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Mayorkas refuses to deport the vast majority of illegal aliens, buses and flies them throughout the country, and practically invites the world to our southern border. But the buck stops with Biden, not with Mayorkas.

Impeaching and removing the DHS secretary would send a message about the border crisis. It’s productive and the right thing to do. But the blame for this disaster still rests with Biden.

Republicans appear more interested in impeaching Mayorkas because, they believe, it’s less risky. Mayorkas is an unpopular bureaucrat who can serve as the fall guy for the Biden regime’s policies. Impeaching him will not generate the kind of leftist backlash that a presidential impeachment will.

The GOP also probably understands that just drafting articles of impeachment against Mayorkas might force him to resign (like Nixon, in a more genteel age). It’s much easier to get rid of a DHS secretary than it is a president.

But while impeaching Mayorkas will send a message, Biden will likely appoint another dangerous leftist to the post and nothing will change. Again, Biden is responsible for immigration policy. A new DHS secretary will only act effectively if the president allows it. If the president does not allow it, then he’s the problem.

Republicans will face a greater push to impeach Biden after the election, especially if they probe Biden’s other improprieties or investigate his son. It will be hard to refuse the calls to impeach if they uncover corruption.

But it’s already hard to deny the need for impeachment over his border policies alone. As multiple impeachment resolutions pushed by House conservatives make clear, Biden has a duty to enforce immigration law and he refuses to do so. He is violating his presidential oath. That’s grounds for impeachment.

While Republicans worry it will be politically unpopular, the polls show, again, that Americans support the idea. Last month, Rasmussen found that a majority of those surveyed, 52 percent, support impeachment.

"Do you support or oppose impeaching President Biden?"
- Support -
DEM: 32%
IND: 50%
GOP: 77%
All Voters: 52%

Story: Impeach Biden? Most GOP, Independent Voters Say ‘Yes’ - https://t.co/P6z6WA1gM5 https://t.co/eI9wYALOyr

— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) October 10, 2022

Seventy-seven percent of Republicans favor the idea. If Nancy Mace isn’t afraid to entertain the idea in the middle of a competitive election, it’s not that much of a political deadweight.

The plus side: GOP leaders may drop their opposition to impeachment after Election Day. Then they won’t have to worry about the electoral implications. They can punish Biden for what he’s done.

A GOP Congress must act to restore our borders and proper immigration enforcement.

The simplest way: remove the man responsible for opening the border and for the invasion that followed.

Washington Watcher II [Email him] is an anonymous DC insider.