(RepublicanJournal.org) – The House of Representatives voted once again on the impeachment articles against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and this time it narrowly passed. Only three Republicans went against the measure, leaving the final count at 214-213. The decision now moves to the Senate, but with a 49-seat minority, conservative lawmakers will need every vote on their side to move forward.
The House made the vote on the evening of February 13, weighing in on the two articles of impeachment in the case. The first claimed Mayorkas ignored federal immigration laws. The second accused the official of breaching public trust. Republicans accused the official of worsening the US-Mexico border crisis by allowing policies that left the region unsecure. They claim his actions were deliberate, although not all members of the Right immediately agreed that the offenses rose to impeachable levels.
Reps. Ken Buck (CO), Tom McClintock (CA), and Mike Gallagher (WI) voted against the impeachment both times. They noted the possibility of creating a precedent that might later come back to haunt them. McClintock further explained his decision to stick to his guns on X, the social media outlet formerly known as Twitter. He said that while Mayorkas was, without question, “guilty of maladministration,” incompetence is a far cry from the serious criminal offenses (high crimes and misdemeanors, bribery, and treason) that warrant impeachment. He added that even if we lived in a “fantasy world” where the Senate actually did manage to vote Mayorkas out, Democrats would simply replace him with another liberal candidate. The only real solution, according to McClintock, is to vote in a new administration.
BBC News adds that Democrats were short two votes the second time around because Judy Chu (CA) was out sick, and Lois Frankel (FL) had a mechanical issue with her airplane that prevented her from getting there on time. President Joe Biden blasted the decision, calling it a “political stunt.”
The House’s decision marks the first impeachment of a Cabinet official since 1876.
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