Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Monday that she may push for a vote to impeach President Biden this week over the situation at the southern border. The threat comes as the president prepares to issue highly anticipated executive orders to crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Greene told reporters Monday night that she had intended to force a vote on the articles of impeachment that night but decided to hold off to speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) first, but warned that she could bring the resolution into action later this week.
“Here we have a privilege resolution of impeachment,” Greene told reporters. The article reads: “I can force a vote this week, but I was thinking of doing it tonight, but I’ve decided to go and see Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who claims to support Trump but is actually someone I voted for, and see if he’s willing to do anything.”
Asked what would happen if Johnson refused to vote on the articles of impeachment, Greene said she would force a vote.
“I’m just going to throw them on the floor and then we’re going to vote and see where everybody stands,” she told reporters. “I’m angry. I’m not here to meet with you all and say, ‘Hey guys.’ People in my hometown are angry. Everybody across this country is furious. We don’t want a banana republic, we actually want a legitimate government. We want a real justice system, and right now we don’t have that.”
Greene could vote on the impeachment resolution as early as Tuesday, after which leaders would vote on the bill during the two-day legislative session. But the House is more likely to vote to shelve the resolution or send it to a committee, as happened last June when Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) forced a vote on an impeachment resolution against President Biden that crossed the border.
Greene’s threat came the day before Biden is expected to sign an executive order to halt asylum requests at the border if the daily average number of encounters at ports of entry reaches 2,500.
The plan is similar to one that was first proposed as legislation by a bipartisan group of senators who negotiated with the White House, but was quickly rejected by conservatives.
Some Republican lawmakers have also criticized Biden for using executive power to implement tougher policies at the border, but it is unclear whether such measures would be legal and immigrant rights groups have vowed to sue.
The move comes as the border continues to dominate discussions on the campaign trail, with voters saying it is one of their top issues heading into the November election.
Republicans have blasted Biden for reportedly planning executive actions, arguing he is acting for political reasons. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the planned measures are “too little, too late.”
Greene’s resolution is similar to an earlier resolution crafted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a resolution that Republicans also struggled to pass but ultimately succeeded.
The bill accuses Biden of violating his oath of office and failing to follow immigration law.
This is a debate that has many of the same pitfalls as the Mallorca impeachment articles.
The resolution faults Biden for failing to maintain operational control of the border, as it did Mayorkas. But the law it cites, the Fence Security Act, sets a standard of perfection that no president or secretary of Homeland Security has ever met, stipulating that compliance can only be met if no people or contraband crosses the border illegally.
Greene’s resolution also takes issue with Biden’s overall approach to immigration, arguing that he has violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) both on policy and by not detaining all migrants who cross the border.
But no president has ever detained every migrant who crosses the border because the US lacks the capacity to do so. Immigration law experts have previously refuted claims that the Biden administration’s policies violate immigration law, finding that the administration’s policies are within the law.
Still, Greene wrote, Biden has “failed to enforce his policies, creating an environment of lawlessness and clearly harming the American people.”
“President Biden is creating a national security crisis and endangering the lives of ordinary Americans with his open border policies,” the resolution states.
If Greene forces a vote on the impeachment resolution, it will mark the second time this Congress that the House will be forced to make a hasty decision on articles of impeachment against Biden.
Rep. Boebert forced a vote on an impeachment resolution against President Biden over his immigration policy and the US-Mexico border. The House ultimately voted to avoid a direct vote on charges against the president and instead refer the resolution to the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees.
But Boebert’s actions became a sticking point in her and Greene’s bitter relationship. The Daily Beast reported at the time that Greene accused Boebert of copying articles of impeachment against Biden. During the vote, Boebert confronted Greene about her comments, at one point calling her a “little devil,” according to the paper.
Greene later confirmed the conversation, saying the Daily Beast article was “stunningly accurate.”
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