WASHINGTON — Before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally launched an impeachment inquiry, center-right Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., urged his party not to go down that highway, saying it was “too early” given the dearth of proof towards President Joe Biden.

But two days after McCarthy made that call final week, Bacon, who represents an Omaha-based district that voted for Biden in 2020, shifted his tone and mentioned he wasn’t taking problem with it.

“If there’s a high crime or misdemeanor, well, let’s get the facts,” Bacon advised NBC News, including that he had been “hesitant” about it earlier — however now it’s executed, and he stands by McCarthy, R-Calif.

“I don’t think it’s healthy or good for our country. So I wanted to set a high bar. I want to do it carefully. I want to do it conscientiously, do it meticulously,” Bacon said. “But it’s been done. So, at this point, we’ll see what the facts are.”

His remarks symbolize a development: McCarthy’s choice to proceed with the impeachment inquiry has confronted scant public pushback from House Republicans, although a lot of them objected to taking that momentous step. The softening of stances is the newest instance of swing-district and center-right Republicans standing by their management staff, at the same time as it bends to stress from far-right lawmakers to take actions that would backfire politically on these extra centrist members and endanger their aggressive seats.

If those self same far-right lawmakers try to overthrow McCarthy for failing to meet their calls for on different points, like spending, Bacon made it clear he and others would shield McCarthy. “There’s 200 of us or so, maybe more, that will stick by the speaker,” Bacon mentioned.

In the 2024 election cycle, Democrats will probably be concentrating on the seats of the 18 Republicans who symbolize districts Biden received, with the hope of recapturing management of the House. The man answerable for defending the GOP majority, Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., mentioned he helps the inquiry however hasn’t seen sufficient proof to really impeach the president.

“I’ve seen enough that we need to continue to ask questions,” Hudson, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, mentioned in an interview. “But I think we just need to continue to talk about what we’ve found and keep looking. And let’s follow the facts. And if the facts show the president is innocent, then let’s tell the American people that’s the case.”

GOP sees ‘smoke’ however no ‘fire’ with Biden

Another skeptic of an impeachment inquiry was Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, who chairs the center-right Republican Governance Group, and said final month he hadn’t seen any “facts” to justify such a step.

But after McCarthy greenlighted the inquiry, Joyce had no complaints.

“I support Speaker McCarthy’s decision to direct the House Committees on Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” he mentioned in a assertion, including that he’s “confident” the committee leaders in cost “will conduct thoughtful and thorough investigations into allegations against the President, which I will carefully review.”

Other impeachment-inquiry critics within the group of the “Biden 18” Republicans, who symbolize the crossover districts, embody Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. Their places of work didn’t return emails looking for touch upon whether or not they assist McCarthy’s choice to launch the inquiry.

Notably, different Republicans in Biden-won districts supported pursuing an impeachment inquiry. That contains Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., who mentioned the worldwide enterprise dealings and transgressions of Biden’s son Hunter Biden create “a requirement to seek truth and to seek accountability” for the House when it comes to exploring thus far unproven hyperlinks to the president.

“There’s smoke there, right? So we have a requirement to go investigate that to see if there’s actually fire there,” he mentioned.

McCarthy opened the inquiry by himself, bypassing a vote of the House as it was unclear he had sufficient votes to achieve his paper-thin Republican majority with Democrats opposed. But Garcia mentioned he would have voted “yes” to launch such an inquiry.

“I would have voted for it,” Garcia mentioned. “That’s the great fallacy. There seems to be this national narrative that people in swing districts don’t want accountability and truth. That’s not the case.”

But he additionally mentioned that in the long run, “if it’s not substantiated, we should oppose” continuing to articles of impeachment.

Some Republicans in districts that Biden carried have steered away from the problem. Asked about her place, Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., who represents an Orange County space, directed NBC News to contact her workplace, which did not reply to a request for remark.

Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., who represents a Hudson Valley district, mentioned he helps the inquiry, however his focus is elsewhere.

“When there’s questions or impropriety, it’s the appropriate responsibility of Congress to be the check and balance on the administration,” Molinaro mentioned after McCarthy launched the inquiry. “I didn’t come here to impeach anybody, but the responsibility of Congress is to provide the appropriate oversight.”

But now that the House has begun the impeachment inquiry, failing to transfer ahead with articles of impeachment would make sure to spark a riot from far-right Republicans. Many of them are already ready to impeach Biden although the House has but to produce proof implicating him in bribery or abuse of energy. They imagine that a failure to impeach would give their GOP base the impression that they’re exonerating Biden.

“The American people support impeachment of Joe Biden and an investigation of the entire family and every person who covered it up,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a McCarthy ally who launched articles of impeachment towards Biden over a completely different problem the day after he was sworn in as president, said Tuesday on X, previously Twitter. “It’s time to hold Democrats accountable.”