2024-02-06 15:52:48
The House of Representatives failed to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after four Republicans split from the party and voted no.
They are:
1. Mike Gallagher (R-WI)
2. Tom McClintock (R-CA)
3. Ken Buck (R-CO)
4. Blake Moore (R-UT)
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise did not vote due to cancer treatment.
#BREAKING: U.S. House FAILS to impeach Secretary Mayorkas. pic.twitter.com/y3svJq8qSC
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 6, 2024
McClintock announced on the House floor he would not vote to impeach Mayorkas.
The California representative said the Homeland Security Committee did not “identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed.”
Instead, “they stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law.”
Secretary Mayorkas is guilty of maladministration of our immigration laws on a cosmic scale. But we KNOW that’s not grounds for impeachment, because the American Founders specifically rejected it. pic.twitter.com/eSP6VXstNB
— Tom McClintock (@RepMcClintock) February 6, 2024
Buck wrote in The Hill he would not impeach Mayorkas for the same reasons he voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump:
However, the Constitution is clear that impeachment is reserved for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Maladministration or incompetence does not rise to what our founders considered an impeachable offense.
Partisan impeachments that do not meet the constitutional standard will boomerang back and hurt Republicans in the future. I can envision a future Republican administration where a Democrat-led House uses this precedent to act against a Republican Cabinet member who isn’t discharging their duties in a way that Democrats desire.
Buck admitted Mayorkas had failed and described him as incompetent and an embarrassment.
“And he will most likely be remembered as the worst secretary of Homeland Security in the history of the United States,” wrote Buck.
Moore’s reason:
A 4th Republican Blake Moore (UT) flipped to No at the end. The reason he did it was NOT because he opposed it. It was so Republicans could bring up a Motion to Reconsider so they could bring the impeachment resolution back up again for a later vote.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 6, 2024
Gallagher’s reason is similar to Buck’s reason.
INSIDE THE ROOM …. MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT …. Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-Wis.) spoke in the closed GOP meeting and said Republicans argued against this type of thing when Trump was president. And this move by House Rs opens future Republican Cabinet secretaries to impeachment.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 6, 2024
The articles accuse Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust.”
The articles detail the immigration laws Mayorkas has allegedly violated and explain why the GOP thinks Mayorkas misled Congress and obstructed the GOP investigation.
The Republicans claim:
Throughout his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Se11 curity, Alejandro N. Mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security. In 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. His 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. Despite clear evidence that his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law has significantly contributed to unprecedented levels of illegal entrants, the increased control of the Southwest border by drug cartels, and the imposition of enormous costs on States and localities affected by the influx of aliens, Alejandro N. Mayorkas has continued in his refusal to comply with the law, and thereby acted to the grave detriment of the interests of the United States.
Honestly, I agreed with Constitutional Law professor Jonathan Turley when he explained why the Republicans do not have a case.
Last week, on Fox News, Steve Doocy asked Turley if Mayorkas has committed any of the factors used for impeachment: treason, bribery, high crimes, or misdemeanors.
From Mediaite:
“I don’t think they have established any of those bases for impeachment,” Turley replied. “The fact is, impeachment is not for being a bad cabinet member or even a bad person. It is a very narrow standard.”
He then explained how the framers of the Constitution rejected terms like “maladministration” to avoid this very thing. “Past Congresses have recognized that there’s a danger to this once you cross the Rubicon and start to remove cabinet members because they’re not doing a good job.”
“I just don’t believe that they have a cognizable basis here for impeachment,” Turley concluded. However, he did agree with Republican criticism of what he called President Joe Biden’s “open border.”
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