The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday not to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to abide by U.S. laws and betraying the public's trust in his response to immigration enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The vote was 214 in favor and 216 against, with a majority of Republicans voting in favor of impeaching Mayorkas and a majority of Democrats voting against. However, four Republicans, Ken Buck (Colorado), Mike Gallagher (Wisconsin), Tom McClintock (California), and Blake Moore (Utah), voted against Mayorkas. voted against impeachment.moore claimed After the vote, they switched their votes at the last minute for procedural reasons to allow Republicans to vote again to impeach Mayorkas in the future.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), reacted to the defeat and the fact that three Republicans voted against it, telling CNN: They already know, but I think they should listen to them. ” House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who brought the articles of impeachment to the House, expressed his disappointment with the outcome. Says“While we are disappointed in today's vote, this is not the end of our efforts to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable.”
Mayorkas did not personally comment on the vote. However, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg told CNN: He faces bipartisan opposition, and legal experts have vociferously argued that it is unconstitutional. ”
Impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas began in early January, when the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee held a hearing to consider introducing articles of impeachment. In response to the hearing, a number of constitutional law professors sent a letter to Greene and House Speaker Mike Johnson arguing that impeaching Mayorkas based on policy decisions would violate the U.S. Constitution. Then, in late January, formal articles of impeachment were submitted to the committee for a vote. A minority member of the committee countered the formal articles of impeachment with a report arguing that the impeachment was a “trumped-up” and that the articles “do not clearly state the appropriate charges.” Shortly afterward, the committee voted to bring the articles of impeachment to the House floor for a full vote. Just before the vote, the House debated Mayorkas' impeachment for more than three hours.
The impeachment comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a record number of encounters along the Southwest border. CBP reported 371,036 encounters in December 2023 compared to 302,392 in December 2022, an increase of almost 23%.
Raj Shah, spokesperson for House Speaker Johnson, said: Confirmed Republicans say they intend to introduce articles of impeachment against Mayorkas again.
