Wednesday has been an eventful day on Capitol Hill, but not for the reasons Republicans would have hoped. Hunter Biden was supposed to show up for a subpoenaed deposition. Instead, he held a surprise press conference and then thumbed his nose at Congress. 

As RedState reported, Rep. James Comer, who heads the investigating House Oversight Committee, promised immediate retribution, including a vote on holding the president's on in contempt of Congress. That would be consistent with how Democrats treated witnesses like Steve Bannon for ignoring congressional subpoenas.

(Related: Reporter Tries to Claim James Comer Has 'No Evidence' Against Joe Biden, and He Was Having None of It)

Unfortunately, the GOP caucus has caved, deciding to instead try to renegotiate an appearance by Hunter Biden while Republicans move ahead with a vote on officially opening an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden. 

SAD: The GOP caves. No contempt vote. They’re going to try again to see if Hunter Biden will come. pic.twitter.com/Mr7OEwFI2c

— @amuse (@amuse) December 13, 2023

Jim Jordan suggested during the press scrum that a contempt vote might occur after the vote to open the impeachment inquiry, though I find that excuse to be rather weak. This is the time to lay it all on the line, not hand Hunter Biden significant leverage. Any attempt to negotiate an appearance after the president's son refused to show up for the first will do exactly that. You don't gain leverage by blinking, and Republicans just blinked by not quickly moving to hold Hunter Biden in contempt. 

With that said, before everyone jumps on Comer and Jordan, I suspect this isn't their decision. Rather, I'd bet there are simply not enough "yes" votes among Republicans to hold Hunter Biden in contempt. What does that say about the GOP as a party? It says nothing good. We just had the son of the President of the United States, who is under federal indictment, illegally ignore a lawful subpoena, and Republicans can't even come together to hold him accountable. 

But sure, this is going to be the party that "takes down the deep state" if you just give them your votes in 2024. Does anyone believe that? I sure don't. All I've seen across the board when dealing with national Republican figures in the past decade is a predictable ability to fold when the going gets tough. When the GOP had the chance to drop the hammer on Hillary Clinton, they passed. When they had the chance to put Anthony Fauci through the wringer, they passed. 

Now, they've got Hunter Biden being handed to them on a platter, and they are hesitating. Are you tired of losing yet? Because I am.