Vote to impeach US Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas fails in House

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A vote to impeach US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas failed Tuesday, even after the top Republican ushering the charge through the chamber voiced confidence that he had the votes to send it to the Senate.

The impeachment articles were narrowly rejected in a 214-216 vote as three key Republicans defected to join with the chamber's Democrats in opposition. A fourth Republican changed his vote to 'no' to allow for the issue to be revisited.

But the defeat was nonetheless a stinging rebuke to Republicans seeking to oust Mayorkas as they seek to make immigration their hallmark issue heading into November's presidential election, setting the effort back for now.

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who hours earlier said he had the necessary support to advance the impeachment articles to the Senate for trial, reportedly left the chamber Tuesday evening without taking questions.

The Mayorkas vote was one of two major defeats for Johnson. It was followed by the House rejecting his standalone $17 billion aid bill for Israel.

The articles of impeachment, which were introduced by firebrand conservative Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, accuse Mayorkas of "high crimes and misdemeanors," saying he has "willfully refused to maintain operational control” of the US-Mexico border amid a surge in illegal border crossings.

The articles cleared the House Homeland Security Committee at the end of January in a party-line 18-15 vote with all Democrats opposed, but a handful of Republicans have long voiced reservations due to what they said is the political precedent they would set.

Representative Tom McClintock, one of those who stood against the effort, said in a letter to his Republican colleagues released earlier Tuesday that they failed "to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed."

The articles, he wrote, "stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law."

He was joined in voting against the measure by Republican Representatives Ken Buck and Mike Gallagher.

The White House said following the vote that "there is bipartisan agreement that this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment stunt should fail."

"House Republicans ought to realize that extreme political stunts like this are a waste of time and instead join the President, Secretary Mayorkas and Republicans and Democrats who want to work together to deliver real solutions that actually strengthen border security," spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.