House Republicans stopped short of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday night on charges of “intentional and systematic refusal to comply” with federal immigration laws and lying to Congress that the border was “secure.” .
resolution affirming two articles of impeachment President Biden’s border patrol chief bill failed almost along party lines, but crucially, four Republicans joined all 212 Democrats in voting against the resolution, leaving the remaining 214 Republicans voted to impeach the 64-year-old DHS secretary.
House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) was the only one absent from the vote as he continues treatment for blood cancer. Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) returned in time to vote from a car accident in mid-January and was seen wearing a neck brace on the House floor.
Mayorkas is the second Cabinet member in history to be impeached, and the first since then. Secretary of War William Belknap, 1876resigned while facing corruption allegations.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) initially joined with Democrats in opposing impeachment, but pro-Mayorkas forces was helped by the mayor’s surprise appearance. Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) missed the vote due to surgery and arrived in a wheelchair just before the vote.
With the vote count tied 215-215, meaning the resolution is likely to fail, Democrats are calling on Republicans to “bring order” as the clock ticks down. I screamed and jeered.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who brought the article to the floor, and others were seen trying to persuade Mr. Gallagher to change his mind.
But Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) reversed his vote from “yes” to “no,” drawing cheers from the Democratic side of the aisle and ending the drama.
Scalise’s absence reduced the Republican majority to 218-212 going into the day, leaving House Republicans with no choice but to lose two House votes and impeach Mayorkas.
McClintock said in a floor speech Tuesday that America’s founders “didn’t want political disputes to lead to impeachment because that would disrupt the separation of powers that leaves the president in charge of enforcing the laws.” .
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi) told the Post after a morning briefing that the resistance “agrees that Secretary Mayorkas has done a terrible job, failed to enforce the law, and lied to the American people.” ”, but each added the following: “We have reservations about whether the articles of impeachment allow for the impeachment of Cabinet secretaries and elected officials on that basis.”
All 216 Republicans present at a procedural vote early Tuesday afternoon voted to allow the bill to move forward.
House Republican leaders expressed confidence before the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said, “The Cabinet secretary did something so blatantly, openly, knowingly, and without remorse that is exactly the opposite of what is required by federal law.” “I don’t think it’s ever happened before,” he added. He said impeachment was an “extreme measure…extreme times call for extreme measures.”
“House Republicans fully intend to return the article of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas to the floor as soon as there is a vote to pass,” Johnson’s press secretary Raj Shah said after the vote.
Mr. Johnson spoke Monday ahead of his Senate trial with Guest, Greene, Michael McCaul and August Pflueger of Texas, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Ben Kline of Virginia, and Ben Kline of Arizona. Andy Biggs and Andrew Garbarino of New York named 11 impeachment managers. , Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Laurel Lee of Florida, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who drafted the resolution.
“For nearly a year, the House Homeland Security Committee has conducted a thorough, fair, and comprehensive investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of the border crisis,” Greene said in a floor speech Tuesday.
He goes on to discuss his travels to the southern border, interviews with current and former federal law enforcement officers, field hearings, and testimony from state attorneys general and grieving mothers who lost their daughters to fentanyl and crime. He gave an overview of the investigation, including: Border crisis.
“Democrats have consistently argued that these hearings are a waste of time. Tell that to the families of the 150,000 Americans who died from fentanyl poisoning in 2021 and 2022 alone,” Greene said. he told members of the House of Representatives.
“Instead, their only response is to simply shout ‘MAGA’ louder and louder, as if that is a meaningful response to the millions of Americans suffering from this crisis.” did.”
Green added during a Rules Committee hearing Monday night that the resolution would hold Mayorkas accountable for “implementing a catch-and-release program and violating detention requirements and abuse.” Ta.[ing] Parole Powers. ”
Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Rules Committee, said during debate on the House floor that the articles of impeachment had “no proof, no evidence, no criminal element, absolutely nothing. ” he said.
Greene previously noted that former President Richard Nixon, who faced an impeachment inquiry during the Watergate scandal, did not face specific criminal charges.
McGovern also quoted resistant Republicans like Buck. cited the absence of an identifiable crime. And he accused Greene of not being able to identify a potential successor if Mayorkas is fired.
During Monday’s Rules Committee hearing, McGovern also cited a letter from lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security calling impeachment a “drastic and dangerous step that violates the Constitution.”
House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) also criticized the effort in a past hearing as a “sham impeachment” and accused Mayorkas of committing high crimes and misdemeanors. He said no.
The impeachment resolution alleges that Mayorkas is not complying with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, is in “administration” of the border, and that the border is “secure” regarding the implementation of the 2006 Secure Fence Act. He accused him of lying to Congress.
He also said he refused to enforce the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, known as the Remain in Mexico policy, which forces migrants to wait for asylum hearings south of the U.S. border.
Other policies would grant humanitarian parole “in bulk,” rather than on a “case-by-case” basis as required by federal law, according to the resolution, allowing up to 30,000 people each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to be granted humanitarian parole. Immigrants are allowed to enter the country. Awaiting their US asylum hearings.
That’s what’s causing the backlog More than 3 million people in exile In that case, the impeachment resolution was added.
More than 8.5 million immigrants have been apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection since Biden took office in January. at least 7 million Some of the encounters that took place on the southern border.
An additional 1.8 million known “fugitives” evaded arrest upon entering the United States.
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) drew attention to the policy memo Mayorkas released on Monday during floor debate. September 30, 2021which he said was the direct cause of the massive influx and was also cited in the resolution.
The impeachment failure followed news in the Senate earlier Tuesday that a new $118 billion border security package that included additional military aid to Ukraine and Israel was effectively nullified.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) acknowledged to reporters that there was “no realistic chance” the bill would pass, but would still add another round of foreign military aid. He asked the council to take up the issue in a bill.
