House Republicans failed in their effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The vote was 214 for impeachment and 216 against.
Republican Reps. Blake Moore of Utah, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, Tom McClintock of California, and Ken Buck of Colorado voted with Democrats, according to The Washington Post.
Republicans claimed Mayorkas was guilty of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law,” alleging he violated immigrant laws by not detaining illegal immigrants, according to The Hill.
McClintock said before the vote that Republicans wanting to impeach Mayoraks “fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed. In effect, they stretch and distort the Constitution.”
Buck also said impeachment was not justified.
“The failure of the Biden administration to rein in an open border is a national disgrace and will be a stain on his presidential legacy. However, the truth is that this is a policy disagreement masked as an impeachment,” he said.
Had the House impeached Mayorkas, a trial on the charges against him would have been held in the Democrat-controlled Senate, where conviction on any charges was regarded as highly unlikely.
House Homeland Security Chair Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee said impeachment was a necessary if unpleasant duty.
“While I do not wish to be standing here presenting these articles, we have exhausted all other options. Our oath to the Constitution now requires us to exercise this solemn duty. Secretary Mayorkas has explicitly refused to comply with the law. His refusal to obey the law has led to the death of our fellow citizens, and he no longer deserves to keep his job,” Green said.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia claimed Mayorkas was responsible for what she called an “invasion.”
“These are people who have completely evaded U.S. authorities and are roaming the interior of the American communities, assaulting, raping, and murdering Americans,” Greene said.
Greene also had harsh words for McClintock, according to Politico.
“Clearly he’s not paying attention to the American people. He’s failing his oath [of] office. I would say he needs to grow some courage,” she said. “The American people are fed up.”
Many voices on social media were irate at the GOP’s failure.
https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1755020547438915885?
Mia Ehrenberg, a representative of the Department of Homeland Security, said the vote shows House Republicans wasted months with “this baseless impeachment,” according to The New York Times.
“This baseless impeachment should never have moved forward; it faces bipartisan opposition and legal experts resoundingly say it is unconstitutional,” Mia Ehrenberg said. “If House Republicans are serious about border security, they should abandon these political games, and instead support the bipartisan national security agreement in the Senate to get DHS the enforcement resources we need.”
via westernjournal
