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LA Times: “The vote could come back to haunt swing-district Republican candidates.”
Sacramento Bee: “Congressional Republicans in California districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 could face new political trouble because of their vote Wednesday to open an impeachment inquiry into the president’s conduct.”
POLITICO CA Playbook: Democrats will highlight this sham impeachment vote as “another ruby red thread woven into a MAGA extremist narrative.”
This week, Californians were reading and hearing all about vulnerable California Republicans John Duarte, David Valadao, Mike Garcia, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, and Michelle Steel spending their time in Congress endorsing a sham impeachment inquiry and folding to the GOP’s far-right leadership instead of doing anything productive for California families.
Since losing ringleader Kevin McCarthy, the California Republicans have been “wasting time on a witch hunt while [failing] to do their job governing.”
DCCC Spokesperson Dan Gottlieb:
“In their last week of session before the holidays, California Republicans chose to actively support a sham impeachment inquiry rather than delivering a single thing for working families. We have one question for Duarte, Valadao, Garcia, Kim, Calvert, and Steel: why have you completely given up on your constituents?”
LA Times: Vulnerable California Republicans vote for Biden impeachment inquiry
Erin B. Logan and Matt Hamilton | December 13, 2023
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House Republicans on Wednesday voted to formalize an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, intensifying their investigation into unproven allegations that the president benefited from his son’s overseas business dealings.
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It puts the House GOP — including vulnerable California members who face competitive reelection contests next year — on record in support of moving toward impeaching Biden.
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The 221-212 vote fell strictly along party lines.
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Some Republicans in both chambers have expressed skepticism about the inquiry.
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The vote could come back to haunt swing-district Republican candidates. A majority of voters in competitive districts view the investigation as baseless, according to an early December survey commissioned by Congressional Integrity Project, a Democratic-aligned nonprofit, and conducted by Public Policy Polling.
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“They can start an impeachment inquiry; doesn’t mean they should, because the evidence isn’t there,” Gomez said in a news conference before the floor vote. “Every time they do that it nips away at the foundation of our democracy. And the public and people lose faith.”
Sacramento Bee: House opens impeachment inquiry against President Biden. Will it hurt California Republicans?
David Lightman and Gillian Brassil | December 13, 2023
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Congressional Republicans in California districts won by President Joe Biden in 2020 could face new political trouble because of their vote Wednesday to open an impeachment inquiry into the president’s conduct.
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Reps. David Valadao, R-Hanford, John Duarte, R-Modesto, and Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, are running in hotly-contested districts carried by Biden, making them prime targets for Democratic efforts to unseat them next year.
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Duarte said this was a matter of duty, not politics.
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“Impeachment is a very solemn duty of Congress,” he told The Bee before the vote. “I am weighing the facts and issues, not the politics.”
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All California Republicans Wednesday voted to proceed with the inquiry. All California Democrats voted no.
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Democrats charge that GOP lawmakers are wasting time on a witch hunt while they’ve failed to do their job governing. They’re pointing to inaction so far on issues at the top of voters’ lists of concerns, notably the economy, immigration and crime.
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“Democrats want to promote a message that the Republican Congress is not dealing with issues, and they’ve got plenty of fodder for that argument,” said Jacob Rubashkin, analyst at the nonpartisan Inside Elections, which analyzes House races.
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Analysts saw little benefit for the Biden-district Republicans.
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House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries set the tone. […]“I wonder how my colleagues in New York and California, who were sent here to make life better for the American people, explain this vote,” he said during the House debate.
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The vote, Jeffries said, is “a political hit job, a political stunt, political gamesmanship.”
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“House Democrats will continue to put people over politics. The Do Nothing Republican Congress is wasting time doing the exact opposite,” he tweeted.
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In addition to Democratic criticism, voters also could be experiencing impeachment fatigue. The inquiry is the third in the last four years. Trump was impeached twice, though he was never convicted by the Senate.
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“To voters, impeachment has become the new norm, so it may end up being met with a yawn from voters. That said, the Republicans from Biden seats would still probably rather not take the vote,” said David Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
POLITICO California Playbook: California GOP: It’s not what you think
Sejal Govindarao, Lara Korte, and Dustin Gardner | December 15, 2023
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Vulnerable California House Republicans who joined a party-line vote this week to advance a presidential impeachment probe can’t afford to have moderate voters hold it against them.
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But Democrats aiming to flip the House are seizing the opportunity to paint the tough vote as another ruby red thread woven into a MAGA extremist narrative.
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“Republicans are choosing to spend their time and taxpayer money on an extreme witch hunt instead of focusing on the issues that matter to voters,” said Orrin Evans, a Democratic consultant working with candidates in key swing Orange County races. “We will be showing that contrast on TV, digital ads and direct mail at the doors on the phones.”
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Valadao, a Central Valley Republican in a district Biden won by 11 points in 2020, echoed his colleagues as he characterized the vote he took, noting it was to advance the probe — not to impeach the president.
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Asked if voters in his battleground district will see it the same way, he told POLITICO: “We’ll find out.”
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