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Washington – Home voted in favor of dismissing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, and Republicans issued the House’s harshest constitutional punishment against a Cabinet secretary for the second time in U.S. history.
The vote on two articles of impeachment was 214 in favor to 213 against, and three Republicans voted along with all Democrats against impeachment. Two Republicans and two Democrats were absent.
Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the vote holds Mayorkas accountable and called on the Senate “to do the right thing and remove Secretary Mayorkas from office after a thorough trial.”
The effort will almost certainly fail in the Senate, where Democrats are in control and a two-thirds majority would be needed to convict and remove him from office.
“Without a shred of evidence or legitimate constitutional basis, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country.” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement. “Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue to work every day to keep Americans safe.”
In a statement, President Biden called the impeachment a “blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant for petty political games.”
Successful voting continues a shameful defeat for Republican leaders last week, when a small group of Republicans who said Biden’s border chief committed no impeachable crimes voted with all Democrats to sink him.
Republicans promised they would try again once House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who had been receiving cancer treatment, returned to washington. The Louisiana Republican returned to work this week, giving them another vote.
The vote takes place on the same day as a special election in New York’s 3rd congressional district to replace former Republican Rep. George Santos, which could further reduce the Republican majority in the House. The prospect of Democrats taking the swing seat put pressure on Republicans to move quickly with another vote.
The impeachment case against Mayorkas
Republicans say Mayorkas should be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors for failing to enforce immigration laws. They have focused much of their arguments on the fact that not all immigrants were detained while they await court proceedings.
Mayorkas and Democrats have argued that it is a matter of political differences, arguing that Republicans are using impeachment to score political points during an election year. They say it’s up to Congress to fix the “broken” immigration system and allocate more resources to border security.
Legal experts from both parties have also criticized the effort, saying Mayorkas’ actions do not meet the threshold for impeachment.
Last month, Republicans announced two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas after accelerating accusation procedure.
The first article of impeachment accuses Mayorkas of releasing into the United States immigrants who should have been detained. The second article alleges that he lied to lawmakers about whether the southern border was secure when he previously testified that his department had “operational control” of the border, and accuses Mayorkas of obstructing congressional oversight of his department. .
The Department of Homeland Security has said Congress has never given the executive branch the resources and personnel necessary to detain all immigrants as required by federal immigration law. He also denied that Mayorkas had lied to lawmakers, pointing out how the department uses “operational control” internally.
“The problems with our broken and outdated immigration system are not new,” Mayorkas wrote last month in a letter to the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. “We need a legislative solution and only Congress can provide it.”
Mayorkas also said the pressure to remove him had not affected him.
“I assure you that your false accusations do not disturb me or divert me from law enforcement and the broader public service mission to which I have dedicated the majority of my career and to which I remain dedicated,” he previously wrote in a letter to the Committee.
Republican leaders pressed ahead with last week’s tense vote amid uncertainty over whether they had enough support to unseat Mayorkas.
It looked like the vote was going to be successful, with three defections from the Republican Party, until Rep. Al Green was unexpectedly rolled to the ground in his hospital he bathes after intestinal surgery. The Texas Democrat tied the vote at 215-215, defeating the resolution.
A fourth Republican also changed his vote at the last minute to give GOP leaders a chance to reframe the vote, making the final vote 214 in favor to 216 against.
Scalise was the only lawmaker absent from the vote.
One of the Republican lawmakers who broke with his party, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, said in a Wall Street Journal article last week that the Republican Party is setting “a dangerous new precedent that would be used against future Republican administrations.” Gallagher announced days after the impeachment vote that he would not seek re-election.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, told reporters Tuesday that he’s not worried about setting a precedent by impeaching Mayorkas, saying “it’s an exceptional case in American history.”
“After a declaration of war, impeachment is arguably the most serious authority given to the House and we have dealt with this matter accordingly,” Johnson said in a statement after the vote. “Since this Secretary refuses to do the job the Senate confirmed to him, the House must act.”
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, urged the Senate to reject impeachment.
“History will judge what Republicans did tonight, and it will not be favorable. They destroyed the integrity of the House, the Constitution, as well as any glimmer of hope of working together,” he said in a statement.
Which Republicans voted against impeachment?
The three Republicans who voted last week against impeachment maintained their decision this week.
- Representative Ken Buck of Colorado
- Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin
- Representative Tom McClintock of California
-Ellis Kim and Patrick Maguire contributed to this report.
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