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No, Joe Biden isn’t in the process of being impeached
If Your Time is short
- The Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, have not initiated impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden, a president from their own party.
Former President Donald Trump was the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. Online, it would seem some people believe President Joe Biden has joined the club.
In June 2021, we debunked a claim that Biden was impeached. Now, a second, similar claim is spreading on social media.
"BIDEN IMPEACHMENT IN PROGRESS AS TED CRUZ AND GOP LAWMAKERS FILES NEW LAWSUIT," a July 6 post says.
It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The post includes a video of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, talking about Biden and fuel prices. He doesn’t mention impeachment.
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Cruz shared a clip from that speech on May 18, tweeting, "President Biden promised to take down American energy during his campaign. Record gas prices are the intended effects of his deliberate actions."
In another tweet that included a clip of the video that appears in the Facebook post, Cruz said, "President Truman had a sign that read ‘The Buck Stops Here!’ President Biden instead plays the blame game for high gas prices."
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Cruz was speaking at a press conference with other senators that day to discuss a letter they sent to the president’s secretary of commerce "calling for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to quickly issue permits required to bring additional production online from existing offshore federal oil and gas leases," according to a press release on Cruz’s website.
Cruz and other senators couldn’t impeach Biden, or another president, and it wouldn’t happen through a lawsuit. Article II of the Constitution gives the U.S. House of Representatives the sole power to impeach an official. So far, no House majority has ever impeached a president of the same party. It is the job of the Senate to consider whether the articles of impeachment merit removal from office.
Republicans controlled the House when they initiated the impeachment process against former President Bill Clinton, and Democrats controlled the House when they initiated the impeachment process against Trump in 2020 over his dealings with Ukraine in connection with his hopeful re-election, and again in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Democrats still control the House, and they haven’t initiated an impeachment process against Biden. We rate claims that Biden’s impeachment is in progress Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Facebook post, July 6, 2022
PBS NewHour, Donald Trump becomes the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, Jan. 13, 2021
Ted Cruz tweet, May 18, 2022
Ted Cruz tweet, May 18, 2022
RealClear Politics, Cruz: For Biden, "The Buck Stops With Putin" Because Nothing Is His Fault, May 19, 2022
PolitiFact, Misleading video title says Joe Biden was impeached. That didn't happen, June 8, 2021
U.S. House of Representatives, Impeachment, visited June 8, 2021
Ted Cruz, CRUZ, SENATORS DEMAND COMMERCE SECRETARY STOP PERMITTING DELAYS ON EXISTING OIL AND GAS LEASES TO BOOST PRODUCTION, May 18, 2022
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No, Joe Biden isn’t in the process of being impeached
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