Republican Rep. Ken Buck, a member of the conservative House Freedom caucus, said Wednesday that members of his party were engaged in "impeachment theater" and accused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of using a "shiny object" to distract from disagreements over major spending legislation.

House Republican leaders are insisting they can pursue investigations targeting the Biden administration and the president while still delivering on their legislative agenda. As a potential impeachment inquiry looms, however, leadership faces major challenges to keep their narrow majority united over contentious policy and oversight issues.

The House Republican majority is hitting its stride as a fully weaponized arm of Donald Trump's bid for a second White House term as it seeks to drag President Joe Biden into a swamp of so far unsubstantiated corruption allegations.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy in recent weeks has heard similar advice from both a senior House Republican and an influential conservative lawyer: prioritize the impeachment of President Joe Biden over a member of his Cabinet.

CNN's John Berman speaks with former House impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested Republican lawmakers may pursue an impeachment probe of President Joe Biden.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested that House Republicans may be approaching the point where they'd pursue an impeachment investigation into President Joe Biden, the California Republican's most explicit threat of impeaching the president to date.

Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was "playing politics" with the idea of expunging former President Donald Trump's two impeachments.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells CNN's Dana Bash that Speaker Kevin McCarthy is "playing politics" by supporting efforts to expunge Trump's two impeachments.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacts to Kevin McCarthy telling former President Donald Trump that he supported the idea of expunging his impeachments.

In a private call with former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he personally backed the idea of expunging Trump's two impeachments and would bring it up to the conference to gauge support, a source said. He did not promise to bring it to the floor, the source added.