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Back from their long summer break, House Republicans took their first concrete step toward impeaching President Biden on Tuesday 鈥撀燼 step they say the GOP base is increasingly demanding.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, of California, announced today that he was directing three Republican committee chairs to launch an impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden, which he said was 鈥渢he next logical step鈥澛燽uilding on their investigations into his son Hunter Biden鈥檚 foreign business deals.聽

鈥淭he American people deserve to know their public offices are not for sale and that the federal government is not being used to cover up the actions of a politically associated family,鈥� Speaker McCarthy told reporters in a brief press conference this morning.聽

Mr. McCarthy鈥檚 decision to move forward without a vote, which he had promised to hold, has been widely interpreted as an effort to placate members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus. He needs the support of the caucus to remain speaker and to preserve the GOP鈥檚 razor-thin majority in the House. But his move could further complicate his ability to lead as the House enters a crunch period of budget negotiations, with the government set to run out of money on Sept. 30.

The previous two GOP speakers were also hamstrung by pressure from the right wing, with John Boehner forced to resign as a result. But Mr. McCarthy faces a new twist: The Freedom Caucus is not united on pursuing impeachment, with some seeing it as a distraction from getting the spending cuts they had promised their constituents. The speaker will need to tap every ounce of his renowned powers to persuade behind the scenes in order to navigate the next few weeks without a political disaster for the party 鈥� or his own career.

鈥淭his is a baby step following weeks of pressure from House conservatives to do more,鈥� said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and Freedom Caucus member, on the House floor this afternoon.聽

He called on Mr. McCarthy to subpoena Hunter Biden and members of the Biden family 鈥渨ho have been grifting off this country,鈥� and to make good on the agreement the Californian made with the caucus in order to become speaker in January 鈥� including holding votes on term limits and a balanced budget. Otherwise, Congressman Gaetz threatened to bring a vote to remove Mr. McCarthy as speaker.聽

But Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, another Freedom Caucus member,聽had聽cautioned against moving forward with an impeachment vote.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to get an impeachment through the Senate,鈥� he said in an聽聽with MSNBC on Sunday, adding that Republicans need to stay focused on issues like inflation, crime, and the border.聽

Facing pushback from within his party,聽on Tuesday he tweeted that Mr. McCarthy made the right decision not to take up House floor time with an impeachment vote and focus instead on spending, while letting the Oversight committee lead an inquiry.

Three House committees 鈥� Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means 鈥� have been investigating Hunter Biden and his foreign business ties for months, but have yet to prove that his father profited from such deals. Mr. McCarthy argued that opening a formal inquiry would equip them with more investigatory powers.聽Under such an inquiry, committees will not have to prove a legislative justification for their requests and subpoenas.

GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, a veteran investigator of government wrongdoing who has helped lead the Senate charge to look into Hunter Biden, voiced support for the inquiry.

鈥淚鈥檓 not telling the House what to do, but you know how much trouble I鈥檝e had getting information,鈥� he told a handful of reporters en route to a vote, noting that even the House GOP, which has subpoena power, has had trouble getting to the bottom of the issue. 鈥淪o if the inquiry gets the information, it seems to me that I ought to applaud that effort.鈥�

Mr. Gaetz and others pointed out that they have not yet fully used the powers at their disposal, including subpoenaing Hunter Biden and members of the Biden family.

The White House called the inquiry effort 鈥渆xtreme politics at its worst.鈥�

鈥淗ouse Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they鈥檝e turned up no evidence of wrongdoing," Ian Sams, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. 鈥淗is own Republican members have said so.鈥�

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.