House Republicans allege that Joe Biden and his family benefited from his actions when he was President Barack Obama's vice president from 2009 to 2017, and they focused on his son's business ventures in Ukraine and China during that period

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to formally authorize an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden as Republicans rallied behind the initiative, despite the fact that they have yet to find evidence of misconduct by the Democrat.

Reuters reports. 

The Republican-controlled House voted 221-212 on a party-line vote to approve an investigation into whether Biden improperly benefited from the foreign business dealings of his 53-year-old son Hunter Biden, hours after the younger Biden declined a call to testify behind closed doors.

The White House dismissed the investigation as unsubstantiated and politically motivated. Biden is preparing for a possible rematch in the 2024 elections with his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump. Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, and is currently preparing for four upcoming criminal trials.

These efforts will almost certainly not lead to Biden's removal from office. Even if the House of Representatives votes to impeach the president, the Senate would have to convict him of the charges by a two-thirds vote, which is virtually impossible in a chamber dominated by Biden's Democratic allies (51-49).

But it could allow Republicans to focus on their corruption allegations during the 2024 campaign.

The vote will come three months after Republicans unofficially launched the investigation, and is not a mandatory step to remove a president or other official from office.

However, the authorization could give Republicans more legal authority to force the Biden administration to cooperate and could help counter charges from Democrats who claim the investigation lacks legitimacy.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have argued that Biden and his family benefited from his actions when he was President Barack Obama's vice president from 2009 to 2017, and they have focused on his son's business ventures in Ukraine and China during that period.

They found evidence that the younger Biden led clients to believe he could secure access to the vice president's office. But they did not provide evidence that Biden took any official action to help these businesses or benefited financially from them.

In his statement, Biden criticized House Republicans for failing to respond to his requests for any of his domestic priorities and for failing to provide emergency funding for Ukraine and Israel.

"House Republicans did not join me. Instead of doing anything to help make life better for Americans, they are focused on attacking me with lies," Biden said.