US House votes to approve Biden impeachment inquiry - live updates - BBC News
The Republican-led House votes to formalise the inquiry, which Democrats and the White House say is baseless.
The danger to Biden in an election year

Republicans have long viewed Joe Biden’s son Hunter as a political liability for his father. If they can link his shady business dealings and personal conduct to the president, they have the potential to damage the elder Biden's standing with American voters. A formal impeachment investigation, that leads to a House vote and a Senate trial, has the potential to become a major headache for the president in the midst of an election year. And that remains true even if Republicans continue to lack any conclusive evidence tying the president to his son’s misdeeds and misbehaviour. The perception of corruption tied to the Biden name - the possibility of it - may be damaging enough. Republicans may also use impeachment proceedings, along with Hunter Biden’s legal battles, to draw attention away from the very real legal plight their likely presidential nominee, Donald Trump, faces. Already there is talk of using the impeachment process to provide “counter-programming” that distracts from a possible Trump federal trial on charges of illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. That's scheduled to happen in March 2024. In a nation whose mood toward elected politicians is already sour, the electoral environment in the coming year may become even more toxic.