Three Republicans Voted Against Impeaching Mayorkas

An attempt to remove Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas due to his improper handling of the southern border crisis was met with a crushing defeat on Tuesday by House Republicans.

Let’s read the news and find out more.

Three Republicans Voted Against Impeaching Mayorkas

A motion combining two articles of impeachment- one accusing Mayorkas of violating “public trust” and another accusing him of “refusing to comply with Federal immigration laws” was put to a vote by lawmakers.

The votes needed to impeach Mayorkas failed by just a 214–216 margin, a very narrow victory.

The three GOP lawmakers that voted against impeaching Mayorkas were Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Rep. Tom McClintock of California.

Ken Buck has been continually at odds with GOP leadership and told the reporters that he didn’t think the requirements to impeach Mayorkas were satisfied.

Buck wrote in an opinion column on The Hill: “To be clear, Secretary Mayorkas has completely failed at his job. He is incompetent. He is an embarrassment. And he will most likely be remembered as the worst secretary of Homeland Security in the history of the United States,”

He added, “maladministration or incompetence does not rise to what our founders considered an impeachable offense.”

Before the impeachment vote, McClintock was one of the few undecided votes. He clarified his stance on Tuesday by releasing a 10-page statement that echoed numerous concerns of his colleagues regarding the lack of grounds for Republicans to impeach Mayorkas.

Rep. Tom McClintock stated on the House floor, “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,”

He added, “They didn’t want political disputes to become impeachment because that would shatter the separation of powers that vests the enforcement of the laws with the president, no matter how bad a job he does.”

McClintock also asserted that the only way to resolve the border situation is for the American people to “replace the entire administration at the ballot box.”

Mike Gallagher was a surprise vote at the impeachment. The Wisconsin Republican was ultimately one of the crucial votes that overturned the effort. He questioned the validity of impeachment against Mayorkas.

According to him, Mayorkas “has faithfully implemented President Biden’s open border policies and helped create the dangerous crisis at the southern border.”

Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee and Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, tried to persuade Gallagher to change his vote, but his attempts were ultimately futile.

Following the vote, Gallagher stated that impeaching Mayorkas “will only further pry open the Pandora’s box of perpetual impeachment.”

The defeat proved to be a major setback for House Republicans, who had been pushing for Mayorkas’ impeachment for over a year.

Also, check out “Nikki Haley Loses to ‘None’ in Nevada Primary.”