The fact that Republicans lack the votes to impeach President Obama is unlikely to change.

In a long-awaited investigation, House Republican investigators charged President Joe Biden with “impeachable behavior” in a report. The report is unlikely to change the reality that the Republican Party has been facing for months: they don’t have enough votes to impeach Biden.

The Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees released a 291-page document on Monday, roughly eight months after Republicans launched their formal impeachment investigation against the President. The sweeping investigations of the Biden family business dealings have been ongoing for even longer. They began informally around the time that they took over the House majority, in January 2023.

Republicans in the committees accuse Biden of two offences they say meet the standard for conduct that is impeachable: abuse of authority and obstruction. The same charges were used by House Democrats in their impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019. This inquiry was frequently cited in the House GOP’s report.

The committees wrote in their report that “the Constitution’s remedy is clear for a president’s flagrant misuse of office: impeachment and removal by Senate.” They added that they were releasing the document to the House, “for its consideration and evaluation of the appropriate next steps.”

Even though Republicans said on Monday that the investigation is still ongoing, the report represents a soft ending for the impeachment efforts. Two leading investigators told POLITICO in December that their investigations were largely concluded. In a recent interview with POLITICO, Jim Jordan, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, said that he would not commit to holding public hearings about impeachment articles. Instead, he indicated the conference’s decision on where to proceed next.

A House vote to impeach the president would be a historical anomaly. Every formal impeachment investigation in modern times led to a vote, except for Richard Nixon who resigned before the vote. This could also irritate the base of the party, who have pushed for an impeachment vote against the president. However, the focus has now shifted to Kamala.

But Republicans have been months away from impeaching Biden. The investigation and report released on Monday focused a lot of attention on the money and business deals received by Hunter Biden and James Biden as well as Joe Biden’s handling of classified papers and years-long federal investigations into his son. Investigators say, for instance, that they tracked $27 million worth of payments made by foreign entities to Biden family and associates. Investigators also dug deep into the “loans”, received by Hunter Biden and James Biden, son and brother of President Biden.

Republicans found examples where Hunter and James Biden used their last names and Joe Biden’s connection to boost their own influence. In closed-door meetings, former Hunter Biden Associates told lawmakers, for example, that Hunter Biden put his father’s speakerphone on during meetings with prospective business partners. However, they claimed that the conversation was only pleasantries. Witnesses also recalled Joe Biden dropping by for lunches and dinners, but business was not discussed.

Republicans accuse Hunter and James Biden of abuse of power, with a focus on the business deals they made or the loans they received. They argue that these transactions would not have occurred if Joe Biden hadn’t been in office. All three Bidens and former business associates have repeatedly stated that Joe Biden had no involvement in the business deals.

As their second offense of obstruction, Republicans focused both on their own extensive investigation and the long-running federal probe into Hunter Biden. IRS whistleblowers accused Biden administration officials, including David Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Gault, of blocking the federal probe into Hunter Biden. These allegations were repeatedly rejected by both David Weiss and Merrick Garland. Republicans have also referred to their ongoing legal battle in order to force the Justice Department hand over the audio of Joe Biden’s interview with Robert Hur, former special counsel.

While Republicans have criticized previous statements made by Joe Biden, they are still unable to come up with the smoking gun to garner the nearly unanimous support of the GOP needed to impeach President Obama. In their report on Monday, investigators argue that there is no need to prove that Joe Biden has committed a crime. However, some of their skeptical peers have stated that this is what they need to do to get their vote for impeachment.

Impeachment attempts have been the subject of intense scrutiny by congressional Democrats, White House officials and some former and current GOP colleagues. Democrats have been promoting the report as a way to exonerate Joe Biden for months, in anticipation of their response.

“I believe we did our work.” In a recent interview, Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky. ) stated that they had followed the money.

He repeated an argument that is often used by GOP leaders. They claim they formalized the impeachment investigation late last year, “to have a better standing in court for documents.” It had nothing to do with impeachment.