Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas looks up during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the department’s budget request on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 26, 2021.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
House Republican leaders struggled Tuesday to drum up enough support within their caucus to pass a bill to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Republicans can afford to lose just three votes if all House members voted. As of midday Tuesday, there were already two confirmed Republican “no” votes, and several other Republicans would not say how they planned to vote.
On Tuesday afternoon, the House of Representatives passed a procedural vote to begin debate on Mayorkas’ impeachment resolution, but six members missed the vote: three Republicans and three Democrats.
“I’m a slim ‘no,'” Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told CNBC last week as the House Homeland Security Committee debated the articles of impeachment. “If there are political differences that lead to a really bad outcome, that is still not contestable.”
Buck and California Rep. Tom McClintock, who also opposed impeachment, leave Republicans with just a “no” vote.
House Republicans have 219 seats with three vacancies, while Democrats have 212 seats with one vacancy.
McClintock released a 10-page memo Tuesday morning explaining his decision to vote no after weeks of keeping quiet about where his swing vote would land.
“Follow the course set by the [Homeland Security Committee] “This is bad policy and bad politics,” he wrote in the memo.
House Republicans claim Mayorkas intentionally violated federal immigration laws and prevented oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. The allegations come after months of record-breaking numbers of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border.
If the House of Representatives votes to impeach, Mayorkas would be the second Cabinet member in U.S. history to be impeached and the first since 1876. He would then face a trial in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where a two-thirds majority vote would need to get him out Removing office would be unlikely.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly denounced the impeachment effort as a political ploy. On Monday, the president issued a statement in a format usually reserved for executive branch vetoes.
“Impeaching Secretary Mayorkas would trivialize this solemn constitutional power and lead to greater partisan abuse of this authority in the future,” Biden said.
“If the House wishes to address these challenges, the Constitution provides an obvious remedy: enacting legislation.”
Biden’s scolding comes as he waits for Congress to pass a bipartisan $118 billion border security bill that was released in the Senate on Sunday after months of negotiations. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said a vote was scheduled for Wednesday, although conservative opposition could hinder that schedule.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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2024-02-06 19:48:11
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