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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been impeached by the House of Representatives.
A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876.
Tuesday night’s vote marked House Republicans’ second try at impeaching Mayorkas. GOP lawmakers focused the Biden official over the continued migrant crisis on the U.S. border, accusing him of intentionally flaunting present immigration legislation and worsening the scenario.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was the topic of two House GOP-led impeachment votes. (Getty Images)
The 214-213 vote was at all times anticipated to be tight; Mayorkas narrowly escaped impeachment final week when each single House Democrat confirmed up to defend him, together with Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who briefly left the hospital the place he was recovering from surgical procedure to forged his vote.
Three Republicans additionally voted down the hassle – Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif.
HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP
Each criticized Mayorkas’ dealing with of the border however had reservations over whether or not it rose to the extent of impeachment. McClintock warned it may set a precedent for political impeachments that would hurt GOP officers sooner or later.
“Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans,” McClintock mentioned final week.
House China choose committee Chairman Mike Gallagher was among the many Republicans who voted in opposition to impeachment final week. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
However, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed any issues about precedent in feedback to reporters hours earlier than the vote on Tuesday.
“Mayorkas is an exceptional case in U.S. history,” Johnson mentioned, accusing him of getting performed extra “damage on the country than any Cabinet secretary that’s ever been.”
He additionally addressed the very probably state of affairs that the impeachment would go nowhere within the Democrat-held Senate.
HERE ARE THE 3 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO TORPEDOED MAYORKAS’ IMPEACHMENT VOTE
“The House has a constitutional responsibility, as I’ve said many times. It’s probably the heaviest next to a declaration of war. And we have to do our job regardless of what the other chamber does,” Johnson mentioned.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has made the border a marquee difficulty for his tenure main the House. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Two impeachment articles had been accepted in opposition to Mayorkas by the House Homeland Security Committee. One accused him of getting “refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and the opposite of getting violated “public trust.”
The Department of Homeland Security criticized House Republicans for holding a second Mayorkas impeachment vote on Tuesday, citing feedback by GOP lawmakers who’ve known as the hassle a waste of time.
“House Republicans’ baseless push to impeach Secretary Mayorkas has already failed once, with bipartisan opposition. If Members of Congress care about our national security, they should listen to their fellow Republicans and stop wasting time on this pointless, unconstitutional impeachment – time that could be spent addressing the issue by advancing bipartisan legislation to fix our broken immigration laws and provide needed resources for border security,” the division mentioned.
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