Lauren Boebert Threatens to Tear Republicans Apart With Proposal

Rep. Lauren Boebert introduced articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden on Tuesday in a move that could widen fissures in the Republican party.

The impeachment resolution introduced by the congresswoman charges Biden with abuse of power and dereliction of duty over his handling of immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. Boebert, a Colorado Republican, said her impeachment effort uses a procedural tactic that requires the House to vote on it.

"I am bringing my articles of impeachment against Joe Biden to the House Floor in a privileged motion, meaning that every Member of Congress must vote on holding Joe Biden accountable," she wrote in a tweet.

Some Republicans have already balked at the idea of impeaching Biden without clear evidence of wrongdoing. On Wednesday, GOP Rep. Don Bacon told Axios that he would vote "no" on Boebert's resolution if it is voted on this week as planned.

"If an impeachment doesn't come out of committee, such as Judiciary or Oversight, I'll be a no. Committees investigate and put facts out on both sides," he said.

Others have noted that Boebert's efforts may exacerbate divisions in the GOP, which has been plagued by infighting in recent months.

"Boebert's bringing of impeachment articles against Joe Biden is a political stunt, pure and simple," Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London told Newsweek.

"Privately, it's hard to think that many of her Republican colleagues aren't just rolling their eyes at the move, but also feel resentful for putting them in an uncomfortable position," he said. "No-one wants to be seen as sticking up for the White House or failing to go after the president. At the same time, they know that an impeachment vote is both substantively baseless, and would backfire politically."

Ron Filipkowski, an attorney who tracks far-right figures online, tweeted: "The only thing this will accomplish, if in fact she can force a vote on this, is to cause more strife and division in the GOP. The Reps who vote against will be vilified, primaried, attacked in media."

Filipkowski also suggested that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fellow MAGA Republican, may be angered "because Bobo stole her pet project and got it to floor."

Greene has introduced several articles of impeachment against Biden and his officials. She told Politico this week that she also plans to force a vote on her resolutions, adding that she had this in the works "before this weekend."

While both Greene and Boebert are members of the House Freedom Caucus, the pair feuded during Kevin McCarthy's House speakership bid earlier this year.

Boebert and other hard-right Republicans have continued to oppose McCarthy, and Greene's recent support of the debt ceiling deal he brokered with Biden was the latest rupture between Greene and her Freedom Caucus colleagues.

White House spokesperson Ian Sams tweeted in response to Boebert's impeachment resolution.

Sams said that instead of working with Biden "on the issues that matter to Americans, like jobs and inflation and health care, extreme House Republicans are staging baseless political stunts that do nothing to help real people, just to try to get attention for themselves."