(RepublicanJournal.org) – Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has narrowly escaped impeachment. In a dramatic and extremely close vote, the House rejected a Republican motion by just two votes. Mayorkas has survived –- for now. However, his many critics can smell blood in the water.
Last November Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) submitted a resolution to the House calling for the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas. Greene alleged that Mayorkas was guilty of “Wilful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “Breach of public trust” –- and assembled a formidable collection of evidence to back her claims. The House Homeland Security Committee then brought the resolution to the floor, and on February 6 the House voted on it.
Although the resolution failed, the Biden administration won’t have been reassured by the results. Initially the vote was 215-215, with three GOP rebels –- Representatives Ken Buck (R-CO), Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Mike Gallagher (R-WI) –- voting with all 212 House Democrats. That was enough to ensure the resolution didn’t pass, but then Blake Moore (R-UT) flipped his vote, handing a 216-214 victory to Mayorkas’s defenders.
Significantly, the only reason the resolution failed on the first count is that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was absent as he was having treatment for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. However, he’s now finished that treatment and has been cleared to travel. Scalise is due to be back in Congress by mid-February –- and Greene is determined to force another vote on her resolution. With Scalise back in the House it will just take one of the Republican defectors to change their mind, and the vote will pass next time.
Of course, passing the resolution doesn’t mean Mayorkas will actually be impeached. The Democrats still have a slim majority in the Senate, and the secretary is unlikely to be convicted in the upper chamber. However, it would be a devastating indictment of his failure to secure our borders.
Copyright 2024, RepublicanJournal.org
