House GOP Biden inquiry stalls as impeachment becomes less likely

Six months since opening the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, House Republicans now face a dilemma of their own making: They currently lack the votes in their divided, narrow majority to impeach the president, but ending their investigation would essentially absolve Biden, a signal Republicans do not want to send in an election year.

With the appetite for impeachment waning, Republicans are discussing instead whether to end their investigation by sending criminal referrals to the Department of Justice as pressure to answer calls from the right-wing base to hold Biden accountable remains palpable.

Republicans had structured much of their impeachment investigation around Hunter Biden, the president’s son who was at the center of allegations and theories that his father used his position of power to benefit financially and serve his family’s business dealings. But the closed door-deposition of the president’s son failed to deliver the smoking gun Republicans were hoping for, leaving the inquiry at a standstill.

There are no more closed-door witness interviews scheduled, and there is no clear consensus on how — or even when — to end the probe, multiple sources told CNN.

House Oversight Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, who are leading the inquiry, both say they have more work to do before concluding their investigation. Comer has long said he expects the final report on his work to include criminal referrals, without specifying who that would include. In an interview on Fox News, Comer indicated how the criminal referrals could serve as an opening for former President Donald Trump if he is elected in November.

“If Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice won’t take any potential criminal referrals seriously, then…