A Republican congressman who voted against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been told that he may face a primary as a consequence of his vote.
On Tuesday night, House Republicans failed in their attempt to impeach Mayorkas, with 214 votes to support 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.
“Mike Gallagher’s political career should be over. We will work with the patriots in Wisconsin’s 8th district to primary him. Just like Lankford, we have no room for these people who cover for traitors like Mayorkas,” Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA posted on X. Kirk’s post references Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who was one of the Senate Republicans who had a hand in negotiating a border security bill Republicans have rejected.
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“Secretary Mayorkas has faithfully implemented President Biden’s open border policies and helped create the dangerous crisis at the southern border,” Gallagher said in a statement, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“But the proponents of impeachment failed to make the argument as to how his stunning incompetence meets the impeachment threshold Republicans outlined while defending former President Trump,” he said.
But many were outraged at Gallagher and vented on social media.
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In an Op-Ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Gallagher said Mayorkas has been a “disgrace” in his job, adding, “Incompetence doesn’t rise to the level of high crimes or misdemeanors.”
“I disagree with my Republican colleagues who voted on Tuesday to impeach Mr. Mayorkas. Impeachment not only would fail to resolve Mr. Biden’s border crisis but would also set a dangerous new precedent that would be used against future Republican administrations,” Gallagher wrote.
Gallagher argued that even if Mayorkas was removed, President Joe Biden would name a replacement to implement Biden’s policies, just as Mayorkas has.
Gallagher said Republicans should learn from and not emulate the mistakes made under the leadership of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the impeachment efforts against former President Donald Trump.
“It was a rushed, hyperpartisan process that lowered the bar for what constitutes an impeachable offense. Republicans rightly railed against this effort and the dangers of a single-party impeachment, impeachment for unpopular decisions, impeachment for non-criminal acts, and impeachment for not complying with congressional subpoenas,” he wrote.
“Republicans should reject the Pelosi precedent. Creating a new, lower standard for impeachment, one without any clear limiting principle, wouldn’t secure the border or hold Mr. Biden accountable. It would only pry open Pandora’s box of perpetual impeachment.”
via westernjournal
