Republican lawmakers scramble to go on attack against Kamala Harris after Joe Biden exits 2024 race

WASHINGTON – House Republicans are on the attack against Vice President Kamala Harris as she launches her presidential campaign – but they're far from united on the effort after months of piling on President Joe Biden.

Just this week, after Harris quickly locked up support to all but become the 2024 Democratic nominee, some House Republicans labeled her a product of “DEI,” and one GOP lawmaker moved to impeach Harris. Before leaving Washington a week early for an August break, Republicans also voted to condemn her handling of the southern border.

The day after Biden dropped out of the 2024 election, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., called Harris a “DEI hire.” He wasn't alone. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said Democrats rallied behind Harris because of her “ethnic background.”

It didn't go unnoticed. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., urged his members on Tuesday to cool it and dial it back. Republicans, he advised, should instead hit Harris on policy and tie her to the Biden administration, which they've already railed against for years.

“This election … is going to be about policy, not personalities. This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris, and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.” Johnson said at a weekly news conference. “Every area of public policy is a disaster because the Biden-Harris administration made it that way, and that’s what this election is about.”

Most Republicans heeded Johnson's message, but it still fell on deaf ears for some. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., later told Gray DC she viewed Harris as a “DEI hire.”

Burchett said Wednesday on SiriusXM’s “The Laura Coates Show,” that he regretted making his previous remarks: “Do I wish I’d said it? No.” However, Burchett went on to call his comments "the truth."

But Republicans going on offense against Harris aren't only making comments about her qualifications. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., filed articles of impeachment against Harris on Tuesday, creating even more headaches for GOP lawmakers trying to push their colleagues to focus on the issues facing the nation.

Ogles has written the resolution so it can be privileged, a term that means he can force the lower chamber to vote on the effort whenever he decides. Nevertheless, the move hasn't picked up much steam among Ogles' fellow Republicans.

“She should be condemned, (but) impeachment is for malfeasance and high crimes or misdemeanors,” Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., told USA TODAY, expressing skepticism about Congress' odds of impeaching the vice president even as the GOP controls the House.

House Republicans did manage to box in a few vulnerable Democrats on Thursday morning when the lower chamber voted on a resolution from Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. The push condemned Harris and the White House’s policy and actions over the crisis at the southern border.

Six Democratic lawmakers – all hailing from districts expected to be battlegrounds this fall – voted for the resolution and joined Republicans to blame Biden and “Border Czar Harris” over the migrant crisis.

The resolution doesn't carry any kind of legal consequences, but it offers a glimpse into what will likely become Republicans’ more focused strategy against Harris.

Biden tapped Harris to coordinate with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to address immigration in 2021, but her critics have labeled her as a “border czar.” Harris was never formally given the title, but Republicans have long knocked many members in the Biden administration over its handling of the southern border, including impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this year.

The wide-reaching GOP strategies have extended far beyond Washington. Former President Donald Trump also launched his own attacks after Harris entered the ring, telling his supporters at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, that he was “not going to be nice.”

From there, Trump went after Harris on issues including abortion, gun rights and immigration. Another task: Trump, 78, will also have to defend himself from concerns about his age now that he's facing a candidate who's two decades younger than him after Biden, 81, exited the race.

Republicans at last week's RNC in Milwaukee were also already trying to preempt Biden's withdrawal and Harris’ subsequent rise in their primetime speeches.

The message in Milwaukee was scattered. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., blamed Harris for violent protests in Minneapolis in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd while Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, called Harris a career politician.

Johnson is hoping Republicans can ultimately contrast the Biden administration (tied to Harris) with the Trump administration, arguing that voters can compare how their lives were under both presidents.

"We'll have thoughtful debate going forward where the Trump-Vance ticket can present their ideas and our solutions to all this and compare it to the Biden-Harris record," Johnson said at the Tuesday news conference. "Both of the persons running for president now have a record. They have both served in an administration within the last several years."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Republican lawmakers are going on the attack against Kamala Harris