Three Republican lawmakers voted against impeaching Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday night as the House of Representatives successfully impeached the border chief over his mishandling of the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif., bucked their party to side with Democrats in opposing Mayorkas’ impeachment.
This is the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876.
The 214-213 vote comes after Mayorkas narrowly defeated impeachment last week when every House Democrat showed up to protect him, including Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who temporarily left the hospital where he was recovering from surgery to cast his vote.
HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS
House Republicans have accused Mayorkas of ignoring existing immigration law and worsening the situation at the Southern Border.
The three Republicans who voted against impeachment on Tuesday have criticized Mayorkas’ handling of the border but expressed reservations over whether it rose to the level of impeachment. McClintock warned it could set a precedent for political impeachments that could harm Republican officials in the future.
“Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans,” McClintock said last week.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pushed back on concerns about precedent when speaking to reporters hours before the vote on Tuesday.
“Mayorkas is an exceptional case in U.S. history,” Johnson said, adding that the secretary has done more “damage on the country than any Cabinet secretary that’s ever been.”
Johnson also spoke about the likely scenario that the impeachment would go nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
“The House has a constitutional responsibility, as I’ve said many times. It’s probably the heaviest next to a declaration of war. And we have to do our job regardless of what the other chamber does,” he said.
HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP
Two impeachment articles were approved against Mayorkas by the House Homeland Security Committee: one alleging he “refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and the other alleging he violated “public trust.”
The Department of Homeland Security criticized House Republicans for holding a second Mayorkas impeachment vote on Tuesday, pointing to comments by GOP lawmakers who have called the effort a waste of time.
“House Republicans’ baseless push to impeach Secretary Mayorkas has already failed once, with bipartisan opposition,” the department said. “If Members of Congress care about our national security, they should listen to their fellow Republicans and stop wasting time on this pointless, unconstitutional impeachment – time that could be spent addressing the issue by advancing bipartisan legislation to fix our broken immigration laws and provide needed resources for border security.”
A DHS spokesperson said House Republicans “will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border.”
“While Secretary Mayorkas was helping a group of Republican and Democratic Senators develop bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security and get needed resources for enforcement, House Republicans have wasted months with this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment,” the spokesperson said.
“Without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country,” the spokesperson added. “Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe.”
President Biden said, “history will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games.”
“This impeachment already failed on a bipartisan vote,” Biden said. “Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to deliver more border resources and stronger border security.”
The articles will now head to the Senate, where the office of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Mayorkas’ impeachment trial will begin later this month.
“The House impeachment managers will present the articles of impeachment to the Senate following the state work period,” Schumer’s office said in a statement. “Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day. Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray will preside.”
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
