Republicans FAIL to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas over border crisis: Chaotic GOP deals Speaker Mike Johnson an embarrassing blow during attempt to rebuke Biden’s top official for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’
- It marks the second major legislative failure today for Republicans who remain deeply divided
- The embarrassing twist now sends the Republican Party back to the drawing board
House Republicans have failed to pass Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas for mishandling the southern border crisis in a nail-biting vote that came down to the wire.
The 216-214 vote marks the second major legislative failure today for Republicans, who remain deeply divided in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
A series of boos and chants rang out in the House chamber as lawmakers waited for minutes for the one outstanding voice that could break the knot: Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who is seeking a cancer treatment .
Republicans had brought back Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., who was recovering from a car accident but walked onto the House floor with a full chest and neck brace to cast a “yes” vote in the failed impeachment attempt.
Democrats then sent in Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, in a wheelchair at the last minute — sounding the death knell in the attempted impeachment of Mayorkas. The vote then was 215-215, a failure.
The vote remained silent for several minutes before Republican Conference Vice Chairman Blake Moore changed his initial “yes” on impeachment to “no” to bring the total to 216 so he could raise the measure again in the future.
Earlier, Senate Republicans summarily killed the bipartisan border security deal they had negotiated for months and released just two days ago. And a Republican Party-led measure for $17 billion in aid to Israel is also expected to fail.
The embarrassing blow to Chairman Mike Johnson now sends the GOP back to the drawing board. It is unlikely that Congress will make any changes to border policy before the next presidency.
Impeaching Mayorkas was intended as a rare act of unity for Republicans in the House of Representatives, who are deeply divided on other issues.
The Department of Homeland Security and Democrats labeled the Republican Party-led effort a “political stunt” aimed at a man “doing his best under extreme circumstances.”
Earlier Tuesday, the White House accused Homeland Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., of being anti-Semitic for calling Cuban Jew Alejandro Mayorkas a “reptile” who doesn’t have the “b****” to resign.
The Republican Party’s impeachment bid was hanging by a thread, as Chairman Mike Johnson could afford to lose only three votes in total. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., who was away for weeks due to a serious car accident, was seen wearing a neck brace on the House floor.
Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., all opposed impeaching Mayorkas, claiming it was unconstitutional and citing problems with the procedure.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have not passed a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas in the third major legislative failure of the day in Congress
Speaker Mike Johnson has said he will vote on the Israel bill again next week, despite efforts to impeach the Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas is probably dead
Mayorkas’ ouster comes amid rampant unrest among House Republicans who cannot agree on spending and the $118 billion supplemental funding deal. Last year they even voted to oust their previous chairman, Kevin McCarthy.
According to official figures from the Department of Homeland Security, more than 302,000 encounters with migrants took place at the southern border in December – a record.
And while Republicans led the charge against the Senate’s bipartisan border and national security deal, Democrats rejected Israeli aid and demanded the Senate deal instead.
Republicans were the ones who demanded that any legislation that would fund Ukraine and Israel must provide them with border facilities. But as soon as Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced that the deal was dead, Senate Republicans again started floating the idea of an aid package for Ukraine and Israel without any border legislation.
The farcical development came less than an hour after President Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump for leading the effort to undermine the law to help improve his chances in the 2024 election.
The bill — which includes $20 billion for border measures — would mandate closing the border if there are 5,000 encounters over the course of a week or 8,500 migrants in one day.
But many Republicans said it didn’t go far enough, demanding the immediate reinstatement of pandemic-era Title 42, “Remain in Mexico” policies and border wall construction.
“They sent us a supplemental funding proposal that includes immigration reform but no real border security reform,” Chairman Mike Johnson complained about the deal.