US House of Representatives votes not to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security News
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US House of Representatives votes not to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security

The US House of Representatives voted Tuesday not to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for allegedly failing to comply with US law and breaching public trust in his handling of immigration enforcement on the US-Mexico border.

The vote, 214 for and 216 against, split largely along party lines, with the majority of Republican representatives voting for Mayorkas’ impeachment and the majority of Democrats voting against. However, four Republican representatives did cross party lines, voting against Mayorkas’ impeachment: Ken Buck (CO), Mike Gallagher (WI), Tom McClintock (CA) and Blake Moore (UT). Moore claimed after the vote that he switched his vote at the last minute for procedural reasons, in order to allow Republicans to vote again on Mayorkas’ impeachment in the future.

The bill’s sponsor, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), reacted to the defeat and the three Republican nay votes, telling CNN, “I’m sure they’ll hear from their constituents, I’m sure they’re probably hearing from them already, but I think they should listen to them.” Mark Green (R-TN), Chairman of the House Committee of Homeland Security, which brought the articles of impeachment to the House floor, expressed his disappointment with the outcome, stating, “While I’m disappointed in the outcome of today’s vote, this is not the end of our efforts to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable.”

Mayorkas has not personally commented on the vote. However, Press Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Mia Ehrenberg told CNN, “This baseless impeachment should never have moved forward; it faces bipartisan opposition and legal experts resoundingly say it is unconstitutional.”

The impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas began in early January when the US House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing to consider bringing articles of impeachment. In response to the hearing, a large group of constitutional law professors wrote a letter to Green and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson alleging that impeaching Mayorkas based on policy decisions violates the US Constitution. Then, in late January, the formal articles of impeachment were presented to the committee for a vote. The minority members of the committee responded to the formal articles of impeachment with a report alleging the impeachment was a “sham,” and the articles “failed to articulate a proper charge.” Shortly thereafter, the committee voted to bring the articles of impeachment to the House floor for a full vote. Right before the vote, the house held over three hours of debate on Mayorkas’ impeachment.

The impeachment comes as US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported record high numbers of encounters along the southwest border. CBP reported 371,036 encounters in December 2023 as compared to 302,392 in December 2022, an almost 23-percent increase.

A Spokesperson for House Speaker Johnson, Raj Shah, confirmed that Republicans intend to bring articles of impeachment against Mayorkas again

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