GOP Defection Leads To Failure Of Mayorkas Impeachment Effort

An effort by House Republicans to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has failed after three GOP representatives joined House Democrats to vote against the resolution that sought to hold him responsible for his handling of the border, which has seen a surge in illegal crossings under his watch.

House Republicans fail to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas https://t.co/wFUKZxUYUe pic.twitter.com/UrCoXCdlvd

— New York Post (@nypost) February 6, 2024

In the vote on Tuesday, Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Mike Gallagher (R-WI) pulled a “no” vote, leading to a 215-215 tally. However, the tie was broken when House GOP Vice Chairman Blake Moore (R-UT) flipped to a “no” vote, reportedly leaving a chance for the impeachment resolution to be brought up in the future.

The votes were on two articles of impeachment, one of which accused Mayorkas of not enforcing federal immigration laws at the border. The other impeachment article alleged that he “breached the public trust” with false statements and obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.

There were four vacancies given the four empty seats in the House, including that of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and expelled Rep. George Santos (R-NY). That leaves 219 House Republicans and 212 Democrats.

However, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was absent, having been away from Washington for a stem cell transplant as part of his treatment for blood cancer.

Buck and McClintock’s “no” votes were not surprising given that they had both indicated that they would not be in support of the move.

In a statement on Tuesday, McClintock said that impeaching Mayorkas will not solve the problem at the border.

“The only way to stop the border invasion is to replace the Biden administration at the ballot box. Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans,” he stated.

Buck’s opposing view came earlier as he told reporters outside the House chamber last week that Mayorkas’ failure to curb the chaos at the border is “not impeachable.”

It appears that the last of the effort to impeach Mayorkas has not been seen, as a spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that House GOP still “fully intend to bring Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas back to the floor when we have the votes for passage.”