Launching Impeachment Inquiries: Reviewing What Happened in 2019 and 2023

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reneged on his promise not to move forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden without having a full vote by the House of Representatives. When defending his reversal, McCarthy blamed his predecessor, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

“Nancy Pelosi changed the rules and the precedent,” McCarthy said on Sept. 13, when responding to a reporter who asked how he justified not holding a vote before launching Biden’s impeachment inquiry on Sept. 12.

However, Pelosi has pushed back, saying in television interviews that she did hold a vote on the impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump in 2019. 

“I say that that’s hogwash. I mean it’s ridiculous, and I don’t know why the press keeps repeating it,” Pelosi said while responding to McCarthy’s claim during an MSNBC interview on Sept. 14. “Don’t blame it on me. Just take responsibility for what you are doing there, and don’t misrepresent the care that we took, the respect that we had for the institution to go forward in a way that really addressed the high crimes and misdemeanors of Donald Trump.”