House Republicans are moving forward with a vote on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the border crisis.
A Cabinet Secretary has not been impeached since 1876.
Mayorkas faces two articles of impeachment. One accuses him of “refusing to comply with federal immigration law” and the other accuses him of violating “the public’s trust.”
The articles passed the House Rules Committee on a party-line 8-4 vote Monday night. This sets up a vote on procedural rules that, if passed, will lead to debate in the House and a final impeachment vote.
Three sources told Fox News Digital on Monday afternoon that they expected the vote to be on Tuesday.
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to face an impeachment vote in the House. (Getty Images)
House Republican leaders have accused Mr. Mayorkas of willfully ignoring existing federal law and making deliberate policy decisions that exacerbated the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Democrats, on the other hand, viewed the Republican push for impeachment as political and argued that the articles of impeachment were baseless.
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But the effort served to largely unify the House Republican conference, which had been very divided this term. Even moderates in districts won by President Biden in 2020, like Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), have said they support impeaching Mayorkas.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon is one of the Republicans in Biden’s district who supports impeaching Mayorkas. (Getty Images)
That bodes well for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who will need every single Republican vote to pass the historic bill. He leads a razor-thin House Republican majority, with Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) expected to return from medical treatment this week. This will give us a little more room to maneuver.
At least one House Republican has so far opposed the impeachment push, but as of late last week at least four more had not made an impeachment decision.
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Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) told reporters last week that he was “absolutely” no to impeaching Mayorkas. Although Buck criticized senior Biden officials for their handling of the southern border crisis, “people I talk to on the outside, constitutional experts and former party members agree that this is not an impeachable offense.” said.
Speaker Mike Johnson will need every Republican vote he can get to pass the historic bill. (Getty Images)
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Mayorkas himself denounced the articles of impeachment as baseless accusations in a letter to House Homeland Security Secretary Mark Green (R-Tenn.) last week.
“I assure you that your false accusations will not sway me or distract me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted and continue to dedicate most of my career,” Mayorkas said in a statement. I will,” he wrote.
The impeachment proceedings will run entirely in tandem with Senate leadership’s efforts to pass a bipartisan border security agreement this week, which Mr. Mayorkas is participating in discussions on.
