Speaker McCarthy announced Tuesday that he is directing the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden.

Mr. McCarthy has been under pressure from the most conservative parts of his delegation to move forward with impeachment for months, and, as of Tuesday, he directed the committee to begin the process without a vote.

The formal inquiry will be an escalation of other investigations conducted by House Republicans, during which they have alleged that the president profited from his son’s foreign business dealings and engaged in an influence peddling scheme. The Republicans have, however, been so far unable to present concrete evidence that the president enriched himself via his son’s business dealings.

At a press conference, Mr. McCarthy said the investigation would be into the “culture of corruption” that he said surrounds the president’s family, though he did  not present any new evidence or facts at the press conference.

“Today, I am directing our house committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” Mr. McCarthy said. “This logical next step will give our committees the full power to gather all the facts and answers for the American public.”

Mr. McCarthy announced that the chairmen of the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees, James Comer and Jim Jordan, along with Chairman Jason Smith, would be heading up the investigation for the Republicans

“I do not make this decision lightly,” Mr. McCarthy said. “We will go wherever the evidence takes us.”

The White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, Ian Sams, called the inquiry was premature and unnecessary.

“Will anyone ask Speaker McCarthy *why* an impeachment inquiry is the ‘next logical step?’” Mr. Sams said in a tweet. “The House GOP investigations have turned up no evidence of wrongdoing by POTUS. In fact, their own witnesses have testified to that, and their own documents have showed no link to POTUS.”

Mr. Sams rejected Mr. McCarhty’s claims that the White House had worked to obstruct the Republican investigations into the president and his son, Hunter Biden, in the House.

“McCarthy is being told by Marjorie Taylor Greene to do impeachment, or else she’ll shut down the government,” Mr. Sams said. “Opening impeachment despite zero evidence of wrongdoing by POTUS is simply red meat for the extreme rightwing so they can keep baselessly attacking him.”

The announcement comes as many in Congress also are questioning Mr. McCarthy’s decision to move on impeachment, including some Republican members of the Senate such as Senator Cornyn.

“Since they got the majority, they got the chairmen of the various committees, they could do all of that now without going to a formal inquiry,” Mr. Cornyn said. “Members of the House don’t really care what I think. All I can tell you, it’s unlikely to be successful in the Senate.”

Other Senators, such as Minority Whip John Thune, and Senator Moore Capito have also expressed doubts on whether there is enough evidence to merit a formal impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden. 

Other Republican senators, like Senator Braun, have thrown their support behind the inquiry, saying that “We need to get to the full truth, and an impeachment inquiry is the right way to do that.”

“Serious allegations have come to light about President Biden’s involvement with his son’s overseas business dealings that can’t be ignored,” Mr. Braun said in a tweet.

Democrats have already gone on the offensive. When it became clear that Mr. McCarthy was leaning towards a formal impeachment inquiry after the August recess, Democrats have moved to try and make the inquiry backfire on Republicans.

The ranking member of the Oversight Committee, Jamie Raskin, called the GOP-lead investigations “an epic flop in the history of congressional investigations” and “a complete and total bust” in a statement Monday.

Others, like Mr. Sams, have taken the opportunity to recount old promises from Mr. McCarthy that he wouldn’t open a formal inquiry without a vote.

“House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they’ve turned up no evidence of wrongdoing,” Mr. Sams said. “He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn’t have support.”

Such a vote likely would have been hard for moderate Republicans who are skeptical of the inquiry, with some representatives on the GOP’s more moderate flank, like Congressman Mike Lawler, expressing doubts about a formal inquiry in the past few weeks.

At the same time, Republicans on the party’s right flank, like Mr. Jordan, who will be one of the leaders of the inquiry, are welcoming the announcement.

“We’ll follow the facts, the constitution, and the law,” Mr. Jordan said in a tweet. “Speaker McCarthy is right to launch this impeachment inquiry.”