Lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a resolution to formalize a Republican-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Despite the GOP’s narrow majority in the House, the measure passed in a party-line 221-212 vote, advancing the nearly yearlong probe which aims to link Biden to his family’s business dealings — but has thus far failed to produce any evidence of wrongdoing by the president.

Republicans say that formalizing the impeachment inquiry is necessary to enforce their subpoenas in the wake of what they charge is stonewalling from the Biden administration.

"We think a formal vote of the majority of the House, on record, for a power that solely resides with the House, that helps us if, in fact, we’ve got to go to court" to enforce a subpoena, said House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, one of the lawmakers leading the probe into the Biden family. "Hopefully, just passing it in and of itself is enough to say, ‘Okay, guys, come in and talk to us.’”

“Joe Biden has repeatedly lied to the American people about his family’s corrupt influence peddling schemes,” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the said in a floor speech on Wednesday. Comer, as chair of the House Oversight Committee, is helping lead the impeachment probe. “Our investigation has revealed how Joe Biden knew of, participated in, and benefited from his family cashing in on the Biden name around the world.”

In a joint statement with House GOP leadership, Speaker Mike Johnson said that the vote was a "critical step" into the GOP-led inquiry, saying that Biden and the White House "have repeatedly misled the public, shifted the goalposts, and stonewalled our investigation."

But Democrats and the White House have decried it as a political stunt and a "baseless fishing expedition." The Biden administration has pushed back on Republicans' assertions of stonewalling in particular, pointing to the thousands of documents and hours of testimony they already provided to the GOP investigators.

In a statement released after the vote, Biden suggested that Republicans are ignoring domestic and international issues in a quest to score political points.

"There is a lot of work to be done. But after wasting weeks trying to find a new Speaker of the House and having to expel their own members, Republicans in Congress are leaving for a month without doing anything to address these pressing challenges," Biden said — challenges that include passing aid for Ukraine and Israel, funding for the U.S.-Mexico border and hammering out further budget resolutions to keep the government funded.

"I wake up every day focused on the issues facing the American people – real issues that impact their lives, and the strength and security of our country and the world," Biden said. "Unfortunately, House Republicans are not joining me."

"Instead of doing anything to help make Americans’ lives better, they are focused on attacking me with lies," he continued. "Instead of doing their job on the urgent work that needs to be done, they are choosing to waste time on this baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts."

"The American people deserve better. I know what I am going to remain focused on," the president concluded. "I would invite Republicans in Congress to join me."

Democrats defended Biden and accused Republicans of only doing the bidding of former President Donald Trump.

"We are here today on the House floor, wasting time and taxpayer dollars on an illegitimate impeachment inquiry, because Donald Trump, the puppet master, has directed the extreme MAGA Republicans to launch a political hit job against Joe Biden," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, D-N.Y., during the debate Wednesday.

"The reason mysteries are called 'whodunits' is because they start with a crime and then you have to figure out who did it," said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight panel. "The Biden impeachment investigation 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?' and that gets very tedious very fast."

"After 11 months of this, nobody can tell us what President Biden's crime was, much less where it happened, when it happened, what the motive was, who the perpetrators were and who the victims were," he continued, later adding: "This stupid, blundering investigation is keeping us from getting any real work done for the people of America."

The vote came after a dramatic day on Capitol Hill in which Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, was set to appear for a closed-door deposition after being issued a subpoena by the panel. Instead, he held a press conference in front of the Capitol where he said he would testify publicly and slammed the investigation.

"For six years, MAGA Republicans ... have impugned my character, invaded my privacy, attacked my wife, my children, my family and my friends. They ridiculed my struggle with addiction, they belittled my recovery and they have tried to dehumanize me all to embarrass and damage my father, who has devoted his entire public life to service," Hunter Biden said Wednesday. "For six years, I have been the target of the unrelenting Trump attack machine, shouting ‘Where’s Hunter?’ Well here’s my answer — I am here."

"I am here to testify at a public hearing, today, to answer any of the committee's legitimate questions," he later added. "Republicans do not want an open process where Americans can see their tactics, expose their baseless inquiry, or hear what I have to say."

“What are they afraid of?" the younger Biden asked of the House Republican investigators. "I’m here. I’m ready.”

Republicans said they would move to hold Hunter Biden in contempt.