House Republican Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against Kamala Harris After Biden’s Exit from 2024 Race
In a dramatic turn ahead of the 2024 election, a House Republican has introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Kamala Harris, shortly after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election and endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee. The impeachment resolution, filed by Rep. Anthony Ogles (R-Tenn.), accuses Harris of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” citing her handling of the migrant crisis as the administration’s “border czar” and claims that she misled the public about Biden’s physical and cognitive fitness.
Screenshots of Ogles’ resolution were posted on the X platform by POLITICO’s Olivia Beavers. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Ogles explained his reasoning: “Time and again, Kamala Harris has refused to uphold her oath to the U.S. Constitution, and she must be impeached. Her breathtaking incompetence as Border Czar has allowed a crisis of drugs, rape, and murder to flood the streets of America.” He also accused Harris of failing to invoke the 25th Amendment when it became apparent that President Biden was “mentally and physically unfit to serve,” adding, “Immediate action must be taken.”
This isn’t the first time Ogles has introduced impeachment articles against members of the Biden administration. Last year, he filed similar articles against both Biden and Harris, signaling his ongoing efforts to challenge the administration’s leadership. Ogles, who is running in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District primary with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, has tied his campaign closely to holding Democrats accountable for policies he deems harmful to the country.
Harris Under Fire as Border Czar
At the heart of the impeachment effort is Harris’s role in managing the country’s border crisis. Appointed by Biden in March 2021, Harris was tasked with addressing the root causes of mass migration, stating that her objective was to focus on “the reasons that cause people to make the trek.” However, illegal border crossings have surged to record levels since her appointment, creating political fallout for the administration and bolstering Republican criticisms.
This week, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the third-ranking House Republican, also introduced a resolution condemning Harris for her failure to address the migrant crisis. The resolution explicitly criticizes the Biden administration’s immigration policies and Harris’s inability to secure the U.S. border, affirming that “the American people deserve elected officials who understand the gravity of the crisis at the border.”
The resolution, echoing similar concerns to those outlined in Ogles’ impeachment effort, underscores the growing Republican focus on immigration as a central issue in the 2024 campaign. With cities struggling to manage the influx of migrants and concerns over crime tied to illegal immigration, Republicans are using the crisis as a political weapon against Harris and Biden.
Questions Surrounding Biden’s Health
Harris’s alleged failure to act on President Biden’s declining health is another key component of Ogles’ impeachment resolution. According to Ogles, Harris knowingly breached the public’s trust by failing to invoke the 25th Amendment, despite what he calls Biden’s “obvious” mental and physical decline. This argument has become a frequent talking point among Republicans who have questioned Biden’s fitness to continue serving in office.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump 2024 national press secretary, has taken this a step further, accusing First Lady Jill Biden of “elder abuse” for allowing Biden to continue in office despite his decline. In a fiery interview, Leavitt stated, “The majority of the American public agree with that. Jill Biden doesn’t because, I guess, she doesn’t want to be a loving wife and go take care of her husband in Delaware, which is what she should be doing.” She added that the Democratic Party has been “exposed” for covering up Biden’s condition, urging the media to hold the Biden family accountable for the president’s health.
Leavitt’s remarks reflect a growing sentiment within the Republican Party, where calls for more transparency around Biden’s health have intensified. Many Republicans argue that Biden’s perceived decline has led to a lack of leadership in the White House, which has only exacerbated the challenges the country faces.
Impeachment’s Potential Political Impact
The introduction of articles of impeachment against a sitting vice president is highly unusual and reflects the increasingly charged political climate ahead of the November election. Republicans are leveraging Harris’s perceived weaknesses—her handling of the border and her relationship with Biden’s health—to rally their base and strengthen their messaging against the Democratic ticket.
While it remains highly unlikely that the Democratic-controlled Senate would allow such impeachment articles to gain traction, the political theater surrounding the effort is likely to shape the discourse heading into 2024. For Republicans, this serves as a platform to highlight their criticism of the Biden-Harris administration, while positioning Trump as the solution to the crises they claim have been worsened by Democratic policies.
As Ogles and his Republican colleagues continue to push their impeachment resolutions and critiques, the fate of Kamala Harris’s candidacy will be closely watched as she prepares to carry the Democratic banner into the election.