WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the second time in recent weeks, widening the rift between Republicans and the White House over immigration policy decisions at the southern border. It was a turning point.
In 214-213 Voteapproved by the House of Representatives two articles of impeachment It accused Mr. Mayorkas of willfully ignoring immigration laws and lying to Congress about the status of border security. This is the second time in history that a cabinet minister has been impeached. William Belknap, Secretary of War and former Iowa congressman, was impeached in 1876.
A vote on the same resolution failed spectacularly. last week, 214-216, House Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana was absent due to ongoing cancer treatment. Utah Republican Blake Moore switched his vote from “yes” to “no,” a procedure that would allow the resolution to be reconsidered.
“House Republicans’ work is far from over,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tennessee). I wrote to X before Tuesday’s vote. “Secretary Mayorkas has created the worst border crisis in American history, and it is long past time for him to be impeached.”
Greene has held multiple hearings on impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas.
All House Democrats were present, and three Republicans voted against it. two articles of impeachment. Critics of the process argue that ministers should not be impeached over policy disputes.
The Republicans who voted against impeachment were Sens. Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock of California.
President Joe Biden called the impeachment vote “a petty political game” and criticized House Republicans.
“Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas, a Cuban immigrant who came to the United States with his family as a political refugee, has served the United States faithfully for more than 20 years throughout a distinguished career in law enforcement and public service,” Biden said. “Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to provide more border resources and stronger border security instead of staging political stunts like this.”
After the vote, DHS spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement: “House Republicans will go down in history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve serious challenges at the border. Deaf,” he said.
The Senate is required by the Constitution to hold an impeachment trial. A conviction requires two-thirds of the House.
House impeachment managers plan to introduce articles of impeachment to the Senate when the chamber returns later this month, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office. The senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day. It will be chaired by Senate President pro tempore Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat.
immigration conflict
The impeachment effort launched by Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is the most high-profile example of an escalating clash between Democrats and Republicans over how to deal with the unprecedented number of migrants at the southern border. Dew.
Tensions have only increased since Senate Republicans abandoned a bipartisan border security agreement last week. The agreement would overhaul U.S. immigration law by creating a temporary procedure to close the border during operations and raising standards for asylum claims.
The border security deal, which is tied to a $95 billion security package, was pushed through the Senate as Republicans aligned themselves with Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, who has made stoking fears about migrants at the southern border a central part of his campaign. It was rejected.
The global security policy was passed early Tuesday without a migration deal.
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House Democrats have denounced efforts to impeach Mayorkas as political, while Republicans have argued that Mayorkas should be held accountable for what they deemed a “crisis” at the southern border.
The first article of impeachment accuses Mayorkas of a “deliberate and systematic refusal to comply with the law,” while the second article accuses him of betraying the public’s trust by, among other things, making false statements during his testimony before Congress. It specifically cites Mayorkas, who told lawmakers that the border is a border. “Safe.”
2 votes for impeachment resolution
With House Republicans in the slim majority and absent last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana barely missed two votes in the first impeachment vote on February 6th. Mr. Scalise returned to Washington on Tuesday, giving Republicans some breathing room. They had to overcome three members who vote Democratic.
The same Republicans who voted against the second impeachment, Buck, McClintock and Gallagher, also voted against the first impeachment.
Gallagher, who was a key holdout in the effort to impeach Mayorkas, announced shortly thereafter: not seek re-election.
in Wall Street Journal opinion articleMr. Gallagher explained his vote against impeachment and expressed concern about the precedent it would set.
“A new, lower impeachment standard without clear limiting principles will neither secure the border nor hold President Biden accountable,” he said. “It only further pries open Pandora’s box of eternal impeachment.”
White House Said In a statement last week, Mayorkas’ impeachment was an “unprecedented, unconstitutional act of political retaliation that will do nothing to solve the challenges our country faces in securing our borders.” .
Update: This article was updated on February 13, 2024 at 8:18 p.m. to include details of the Senate trial.
