House slated to vote on whether to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas again

Originally Published: 13 FEB 24 05:00 ET By Annie Grayer, CNN

    (CNN) -- House Republicans are expected to vote on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, after suffering a massive and public defeat when a similar vote failed last week.

With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise expected to return to Washington, DC, after receiving cancer treatments, House Republicans are expecting to have the necessary votes to overcome their razor thin majority and finally get the impeachment effort over the finish line.

Last week’s stunning blow to House Republicans came when three Republicans –Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher and California Rep. Tom McClintock – joined the Democrats in voting against the resolution. The trio of House Republicans said they did not believe any of the evidence their Republican colleagues uncovered rose to the level of impeachment.

Given the narrow margins in the House, Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of votes depending on the number of members who are absent. A surprise move by Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas to return shortly after surgery to vote last week changed the margins at the eleventh hour, putting Republicans one vote shy of the majority they needed to proceed.

If Republicans successfully impeach Mayorkas on Tuesday, it will be an extremely rare move. Only one Cabinet official has previously been impeached in American history: Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.

The embarrassing initial defeat of the Mayorkas impeachment effort – which was quickly followed by another floor failure over a standalone Israel aid package – only crystalized the GOP’s yearlong struggle to govern amid a rambunctious and anemic majority. In the fallout of the failed impeachment vote, Republican lawmakers openly aired their frustrations and pointed fingers as to who is to blame, with some questioning their own leadership’s decision-making.

“I had many people reach out to me via text message and say, ‘What the hell are you guys doing up there?’ I think our base is a little frustrated,” GOP Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas told CNN. “We may have the gavel, but we’re not acting like we’re in the majority.”

“I was embarrassed for our conference, for our party, because we can do better than we did last night,” said GOP Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas.

The meltdown – just the latest in a long string of chaotic moments under this GOP majority – is raising fresh concerns over how Republicans will navigate the fast approaching government funding deadline and their ability to maintain control of the House after November.

“It was a lousy day. Two bad play calls back to back. Both active choices to schedule them. It was a huge mistake,” said GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, an ally to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “The speaker is a very nice man,” he said of Speaker Mike Johnson, but added, “He’s gotta learn from his mistakes.”

The Department of Homeland Security said House Republicans should abandon “political games” following the failed effort to impeach Mayorkas.

“This baseless impeachment should never have moved forward; it faces bipartisan opposition and legal experts resoundingly say it is unconstitutional,” DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement.

Meanwhile White House spokesman Ian Sams called the failed impeachment vote a “baseless, unconstitutional impeachment stunt” and said there is “bipartisan agreement” that it should fail.

House Republicans claim Mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors for his handling of the southern border, even though several constitutional experts have said the evidence does not reach that high bar.

The impeachment effort comes as House Republicans have faced building pressure from their base to hold the Biden administration accountable on a key campaign issue: the border.

When presented with a bipartisan legislative solution negotiated with Senate Republicans however, GOP House members flatly rejected it, which contributed to the ultimate squashing of the deal.

Even if Mayorkas is impeached in the House, it is highly unlikely that he will be charged in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Senate Democrats are still weighing how to respond if Mayorkas is impeached: Move ahead with a trial, or move to dismiss it quickly given their view that it’s blatantly political.

While Republicans have been investigating Mayorkas’ handling of the border since they reclaimed the House majority, momentum to plot a swift impeachment of the secretary picked up steam last month as key swing-district Republicans expressed fresh openness to the idea amid a recent surge of migrant crossings at the southern border.

Mayorkas has sent a letter to House Republicans to defend his record in public service in advance of the vote.

“My reverence for law enforcement was instilled in me by my parents, who brought me to this country to escape the Communist takeover of Cuba and allow me the freedoms and opportunity that our democracy provides,” Mayorkas said.

Mayorkas wrote that “the problems with our broken and outdated immigration system are not new” and called on Congress to help provide a legislative solution to the “historically divisive issue.” He praised the bipartisan group of senators he has worked with for its willingness to put their differences aside to try to find solutions at the border.

Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee have repeatedly bashed their Republican colleagues for their efforts to impeach Mayorkas and have released a report calling the GOP effort “a sham.”

Instead of formally launching an impeachment inquiry with a House floor vote, the GOP effort to impeach Mayorkas has been unilaterally run through the Homeland Security Committee as opposed to the House Judiciary Committee, where impeachment articles typically originate, though it is not constitutionally required.

In the investigative phase, Homeland Security Committee Republicans held 10 hearings, published five interim reports and conducted 11 transcribed interviews with current and former Border Patrol agents. But since launching the inquiry, the GOP-led panel has held only two hearings and has decided to move forward with impeachment articles without giving the secretary an opportunity to testify.

Republicans invited Mayorkas to testify at an impeachment hearing on January 18. But the DHS secretary said he was hosting Mexican Cabinet members to discuss border enforcement, and he asked to work with the committee on scheduling a different date, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

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