Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) introduced three articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden on Tuesday citing his handling of Afghanistan, immigration, and the now-defunct federal eviction moratorium.
“I take this seriously. I don’t think it’s haphazard. I’m not trying to get media attention for myself,” Gibbs told The Washington Examiner, which first reported the impeachment push. “He’s done so much damage to this country in less than nine months, which is really scary.”
“He’s not capable of being commander-in-chief, and that’s obvious by the actions since Day One when he took the presidency back in January,” he said. “Maybe something like this makes the White House think twice before they do some of this nonsense.”
Gibbs introduced the articles, with Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Brian Babin (R-TX), and Randy Weber (R-TX) joining as co-sponsors. Gibbs said that the congressmen began work on the resolution before the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan erupted into chaos last month, focusing on Biden’s handling of the border and the federal eviction moratorium.
Within the past week, the border crisis has received renewed attention as thousands of illegal migrants flooded into the U.S. near the Texas town of Del Rio. Federal agents are holding thousands of migrants in a makeshift pen underneath an overpass with little supplies or shelter, risking a humanitarian crisis. Twenty-six Republican governors co-signed a letter to the White House on Monday calling for Biden to crack down on illegal immigration and end the “national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders.”
The eviction moratorium was scrapped in August by the Supreme Court after the Biden administration expanded it in a move the White House had previously claimed was unconstitutional. At the time of the extension, Biden softened his language on the moratorium, claiming he “can’t tell” whether it was constitutional. He said the extension would buy time for another solution to be found.
Biden ordered the U.S. out of Afghanistan at the end of August, leaving potentially hundreds of Americans behind in the terrorist-controlled country. Biden also left potentially tens of thousands of Afghans who had worked with the U.S. military against the Taliban during the United States’ two-decade occupation of the country.
Thirteen U.S. servicemembers died in a terror attack during the chaotic and rushed withdrawal. In carrying out drone strikes against the ISIS-K terror group in response to the attack, the Biden administration bombed an Afghan aid worker, killing him and nine members of his family, including seven children. The Pentagon admitted the mistake last week.
Gibbs acknowledged that the articles of impeachment are unlikely to go anywhere with Democrats in charge of the House.
“Obviously, it’s not going to go anywhere with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi,” Gibbs told the Examiner. “It shows that there are some Republicans that think that this president needs to be impeached, he needs to be removed from office one way or another.”
“At some point, they’re gonna be held accountable for their actions, and this is kind of putting them on notice,” he said.