GOP heads into dangerous territory on impeachment

As the walls close in on Donald Trump and the GOP squabbles over spending, House Republicans are flirting with the idea of an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.

At least one of them isn't thrilled about it.

Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, recently accused his colleagues of using impeachment to distract from their own party turmoil, calling it "impeachment theater."

Buck isn't a moderate — he represents one of the reddest districts in his state and is a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. But he's one of the lone Republicans in the House who is willing to publicly say impeachment isn't a good idea.

Good. That's the kind of principled stance we'd like to see from Republicans more often, especially in North Carolina, where our representatives tend to either wholeheartedly endorse their party's antics or quietly fall in line.

It's not clear what, exactly, Republicans want to impeach Biden for. In recent weeks, some far-right Republicans have pushed for Biden to be impeached for his immigration policies, while others are hung up on unproven fantasies about a Biden crime family. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said recently that investigations into the Biden family's business dealings are "rising to the level of impeachment inquiry," even going so far as to compare Biden to former President Richard Nixon.

"This president has used something we have not seen since Richard Nixon: the weaponization of government to benefit his family and deny Congress the ability to have oversight," McCarthy said on Fox News.

Is there clear evidence that Joe Biden has himself done something illegal that warrants impeachment? Not yet. Does it matter? Apparently not. Republicans have their own reasons for impeachment, and they are shamefully and hollowly political. They just can't resist the opportunity to get even after a Democrat-led House voted to impeach Trump twice, despite the fact that the reasons for impeachment were demonstrably legitimate with Trump.

It's hard to separate the GOP's support for impeachment from its loyalty to Trump, who sees impeachment of Biden both as revenge as well as a distraction from his own legal woes. Buck, the Texas Congressman, has also broken with his colleagues by suggesting that the scrutiny of Trump, particularly in the classified documents probe, is warranted. Buck called the allegations of Trump "very serious" and voiced his respect for Justice Department prosecutors, a far cry from Republicans who wail about weaponization of government and a "two-tiered justice system."

GOP leaders do seem to be aware they are heading into territory that is politically fraught, though that may not stop them from forging ahead anyway. McCarthy already has taken on a less direct tone on impeachment, insisting that he merely said Republicans "could" launch an inquiry, not that they will. Other Republicans have argued that opening an impeachment inquiry against Biden is different than actually impeaching him, as if they might actually stop short of finishing the job once they've started.

Buck is right: this is impeachment theater. And in saying so, he's created a blueprint for his colleagues. While many Republicans have abandoned independence for groupthink, Buck is proof that it's possible to be a conservative without being cowing to Trump and his supporters.