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Leader Schumer: The choice for Speaker Johnson is clear. Put the supplemental on the floor of the House for a vote and help deliver Ukraine the aid it desperately needs or kowtow to Donald Trump and the MAGA hard right who seem to want a victorious Putin. pic.twitter.com/ImXrJtxR4g

— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) March 20, 2024

Concerning yesterday’s center-ring saga:

Lacking support and evidence, the GOP-led impeachment inquiry against Biden continued to sputter out, even as House Republicans held a hearing featuring witnesses reiterating thin allegations that his family capitalized financially on their father’s name. https://t.co/wrAKWCH5dy

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 21, 2024

Per the Washington Post, “Impeachment inquiry appears on ice as House GOP tries to wrangle support” [gift link]:

Lacking support and evidence, the GOP-led impeachment inquiry against President Biden continued to sputter out, even as House Republicans on Wednesday held a hearing that featured witnesses who reiterated thin allegations that members of the Biden family capitalized financially on their father’s name…

With a threadbare majority, House Republicans need near unanimity to approve articles of impeachment against the president, which they do not have. Instead, skepticism among rank-and-file Republicans has only grown since an FBI informant was charged with lying about the Bidens, an implosion of what had been presented as a major piece of evidence.

In the absence of those votes, Comer and other members of the investigating committees have pivoted to the possibility of criminal referrals. Comer has threatened to make “multiple” criminal referrals, but it remains unclear whether lawmakers will formally accuse President Biden of a crime and what crimes they allege may have been committed.

“I’m not sure how we would have a criminal referral of the president yet not move forward with impeachment,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) said. “I mean the [Justice Department] is never going to take that up anyway.”…

The apparent collapse of one of the House GOP’s marquee investigations was preceded by a string of incidents where Comer, who has been criticized by even some Republican colleagues for his Fox News-centric approach to the investigation, elevated allegations against Biden and his son before they publicly fizzled. Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, in his opening statement Wednesday called the hearing “the end of perhaps the most spectacular failure in the history of congressional investigations.”

“Our colleagues now are apparently preparing to save face by ending the impeachment farce with criminal referrals,” Raskin said. “But criminal referrals require evidence of crimes. And the only crimes we have seen are those of the GOP’s own star witnesses.”…

Some members indicated that they were open to weighing any new evidence House investigators may unearth in the meantime, but Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) noted that Republicans were running out of time before the rematch between Biden and former president Donald Trump — and that Biden faces bigger electoral challenges than a potential impeachment that is destined to fail in a Democratic-controlled Senate.

“Ultimately the American people will be voting in October or November to decide whether or not this president is suitable for office,” Garcia said. “I think he’s got enough other challenges and failures under his belt that the impeachment probably wouldn’t even affect the outcome of the election.”…

“The only information ever pushed on the Bidens and Ukraine has come from one source and one source only: Russia and Russian agents,” Parnas testified.

At the end of the hearing, Comer said he was inviting the president to testify to Congress, an invitation a White House spokesperson laughed off on social media.