Four Republicans voted with Democrats to tank the effort in a defeat to Speaker Mike Johnson.
House Republicans failed Tuesday in their effort to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for refusing to enforce multiple U.S. immigration laws after two hours of hard-hitting floor debate, despite earlier in the day having won a key procedural vote.
The motion to approve two Articles of Impeachment against Mr. Mayorkas was rejected with 214 members voting for it and 216 opposing it. Among the opposing votes were those cast by Republican Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California, Blake Moore of Utah, and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. Mr. Moore changed his vote in order to preserve a future parliamentary opportunity to reconsider the vote.
When the five minutes officially allotted for the vote expired, the count was a deadlock at 215 to 215, with one member not voting, House Majority Leader Steven Scalise (R-La.), who is absent while undergoing medical treatment for blood cancer.
The chamber erupted with Democratic applause when Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced the tally. Mr. Johnson had pushed to hold the impeachment vote âas soon as possible.â
The prior procedural vote was on whether to accept the closed rule recommended late Monday by the House Rules Committee. Under that rule, no amendments or points of order were allowed on one of the most contentious issues confronting the lower chamber during the 118th Congress. The vote on the rule was 216 Republicans in favor and 209 Democrats opposed, with three members from each party not voting.
The two Articles of Impeachment were reported to the floor last week by the House Committee on Homeland Security on a straight-party line vote. Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), that panelâs chairman, was the floor manager for impeachment during the two-hour debate. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the panelâs ranking member, was floor manager for the impeachment opposition.
Article I of the measure accused Mr. Mayorkas of a âwillful and systemic refusal to comply with the lawâ and claims that âin large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States.â
âHis refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States, it also threatens our national security and has had a dire impact on communities across the country,â it reads.
Article II accused Mr. Mayorkas of breaching the public trust by having âknowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security [DHS], principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.â
Among 10 alleged examples, the article argues that Mr. Mayorkas âdelayed or denied access of DHS Office of Inspector General [OIG] to DHS records and information, hampering OIGâs ability to effectively perform its vital investigations, audits, inspections, and other reviews of agency programs and operations to satisfy the OIGâs obligations.â
In his opening remarks of the debate, Mr. Green said that under Mr. Mayorkas, âweâve all watched the unprecedented crisis at our borders unfold. Weâve seen the chaos. Under Secretary Mayorkasâ watch, Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 8.5 million encounters at our borders, including more than 7 million apprehensions at the Southwest border.
âEven more terrifying is the approximately 1.8 million known gotaways, that Border Patrol agents detect, but are unable to apprehend. Millions of those inadmissible aliens who are encountered are eventually released into our communities. This has never happened before in our history. And it doesnât happen by accident.â
Mr. Thompsonâs opening statement set the tone for the Democratic responses throughout the debate, with the Mississippi Democrat declaring âwhat is happening here today is a travesty and an affront to the United States Constitution. It will do nothing to solve challenges at our border. And it is a baseless attack on a dedicated public servant.
âRepublican Members of Congress, sworn to support and defend the Constitution, are rejecting the framersâ intent and over two centuries of precedent in favor of a politically motivated sham impeachment. Republicans have failed to make a constitutionally viable case. Neither of the two articles are a high crime and misdemeanor under the Constitution.â
As the parade of advocates for each side took the floor podiums to have their say, the rhetoric became sharper and more shrill, with Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, calling it the âslapstick impeachment driveâ that he said was mounted by the âTrump-Putin MAGA factionâ of the Republican Party.
Similarly, Rep. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) argued that âHouse Republicans are focused on just one thing, pleasing former President Trump.â
On the other side, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) called Mr. Mayorkas âthis bumâ and âthis Benedict Arnold.â
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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