OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is ready to let bygones be bygones for the two years of political hell the Biden administration has put Americans through. Weaponized FBI? Fine. The mandates? Fine. War on gas? Fine. Risking World War III? Fine. Smearing concerned parents as ‘domestic terrorists’? Fine.
It’s all fine and dandy and Republicans should carry on with politics-as-usual, as far as Kevin McCarthy is concerned. If we are to take McCarthy’s recent comments to PunchBowl News at face value, he has no interest in using impeachment as ‘political payback’ against Biden officials. The current GOP leader told Punchbowl News that Americans don’t “like impeachment used for political purposes at all,” and said “the country wants to heal” and see a “system that actually works.”
As the Daily Mail noted, he said that Republicans need to ‘maintain their integrity by not turning around and engaging in the same politically-motivated actions that they railed against the opposing party for doing the last four years.’
Two names that have come up as impeachment targets if the coming red wave materializes: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
President Joe Biden is also a top candidate for impeachment, however, his replacement Kamala Harris would fare no better with a lame-duck Congress.
McCarthy, when asked about anyone he would consider impeaching, replied: “I don’t see it before me right now.”
“You watch what the Democrats did – they all came out and said they would impeach before Trump was ever sworn in,'” the California Republican congressman said. “There wasn’t a purpose for it.”
“If you spent all that time arguing against using impeachment for political purposes, you gotta be able to sustain exactly what you said,'” McCarthy added.
It is hard to imagine a Republican leader making a more tone-deaf and out-of-touch statement ahead of a midterm election that increasingly looks like a blowout for the Republican Party. That may be one explanation for McCarthy softening the blow of disappointment when they find out later the GOP doesn’t really see the Democratic Party as a determined political enemy that will go to extreme lengths to weaponize every branch of government.
The purpose of political impeachment would not be for the Republican Party to get ‘revenge,’ but to protect them from weaponized government agencies that are being run by petty and vindictive ‘Woke’ Democrats.
If McCarthy cannot see the massive amount of damage being done by Biden officials through their intentional failure to do their jobs and to abide by their Constitutional oaths, there will undoubtedly be massive pressure to replace him with leadership that does get it. The monumental task ahead of the Republican Party is to reform a corrupt government that has done little else but abuse its power under the Biden presidency.
The GOP is expanding its lead in the generic ballot as voters increasingly see the Republican Party as the ‘lesser of two evils.’ The party had the right idea with its Commitment to America agenda.
“If you trust us, hold us accountable,” McCarthy said in September. “We’re putting it out to the entire country. This is what we’ll do. But on that very first day, that we’re sworn in, you’ll see that it all changes. Because on our very first bill, we’re going to repeal 87,000 IRS agents. Our job is to work for you, not go after you.”
The House GOP’s proposal comes at a time when many Republican voters have been growing concerned over the party’s silent tolerance as the Biden administration has heaped a long train of abuses against the American people, particularly violating their rights and the rule of law.
A summary of the Republicans’ “Commitment to America” included a section with a commitment to hold the government accountable:
- Preserve Our Constitutional Freedoms: Uphold free speech, protect the lives of unborn children and their mothers, guarantee religious freedom, and safeguard the
Second Amendment - Hold Washington Accountable: Conduct rigorous oversight to rein in government abuse of power and corruption, provide real transparency, and require the White House to answer for its incompetence at home and abroad
- Restore the People’s Voice: End special treatment for Members of Congress by repealing proxy voting, and increase accountability in the election process
through voter ID, accurate voter rolls, and observer access
It is impossible to imagine these goals being achieved if there are no serious consequences for corrupt officials that have abused their offices throughout the Biden administration.
The FBI has turned the other way on the Hunter Biden laptop. That launched an unprecedented raid against a former president over a documents dispute. The Russia collusion hoax that has utterly failed to result in significant punishment for its perpetrators. The CDC that continues to issue controversial guidance that will result in unpopular mandates in blue states. The DOJ and its maltreatment of January 6 defendants.
The list goes on and on. And Kevin McCarthy appears to be completely unwilling to do anything serious about it.
It is time for fresh blood in Washington, but the 2022 midterm elections are only the beginning of this fight. After the election, conservatives will have to hold Republicans’ feet to the fire to deliver on their promises to the American people.
