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The US House of Representatives has voted to formalise its impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Lawmakers voted along party lines in favour of a resolution that Republicans say will give them more power to gather evidence, depose witnesses and enforce legal demands.
Three Republican-led House committees allege bribery and corruption during Mr Biden’s tenure as US vice-president.
He denies wrongdoing and the committees have yet to produce any evidence.
The lower chamber of Congress, which Republicans control by a slim eight-seat margin, approved the inquiry on Wednesday by a vote of 221 to 212.
Voting to authorise an inquiry is not the same as voting for impeachment, but it advances the likelihood the House will seek to impeach Mr Biden early next year.
In an animated debate ahead of the vote, Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole said his colleagues had been left with no choice but to bring the vote.
He said it was a “sad day for myself, the institution and the American people” and accused the White House of “stonewalling” the impeachment inquiry.
But Democrats expressed irritation over what they have dismissed as “an extreme political stunt”.
Jamie Raskin of Maryland said the probe “isn’t a whodunit, it’s a what is it”.
“It’s like an Agatha Christie novel, where the mystery is – what’s the crime?” he added.
Ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched the inquiry in September claiming Republicans had unearthed a “culture of corruption” surrounding Mr Biden.
Republicans have held one hearing related to the inquiry, during which two expert witnesses called by Republicans said there was not yet enough evidence to impeach the Democratic president.
The oversight committee claims the Biden family and its business associates received more than $24m (£19m) from foreign sources in China, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and Ukraine between 2014 and 2019.
Committee chairman James Comer has alleged that Mr Biden’s relatives – in particular his son, Hunter – sold access to the then-vice-president and influence-peddled off “the Biden brand”.
He has further alleged that the president “spoke, dined, and developed relationships with” his son’s business partners.
Before and during his presidency, Mr Biden has said repeatedly that he never talked business with Hunter Biden or his associates and that his son made no money off unethical overseas ventures.
The White House has also pushed back on the claim it is refusing to co-operate and criticised the inquiry on Wednesday as an abuse of power by House Republicans.
“They’re going to go home tomorrow” for the Christmas congressional break, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “And what have they done?”
“They’re focusing on the president’s family instead of the American family.”
Hunter Biden has long been viewed by Republicans as perhaps the greatest political liability for his father.
If they are able to link his business dealings and personal conduct to the president, it has the potential to damage the elder Mr Biden’s standing with American voters.
A formal impeachment investigation, that leads to a House vote and a Senate trial, could represent a major headache for the president in the midst of an election year.
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