‘This Is a Terrible Impeachment’: House Republicans Succeed in 2nd Mayorkas Vote
Maneuver was political, with official never credibly alleged with any wrongdoing
It took a second try, but House Republicans successfully impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, in a move roundly condemned outside the MAGA base.
The House voted by the barest of margins to make Mayorkas the first sitting Cabinet secretary to be impeached in US history.
Republicans impeached Mayorkas on a razor-edge vote of 214-213.
This was the second attempt to impeach Mayorkas, with the first ending in an embarrassing failure last week.
The difference this time is that Republicans relied on House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La) to deliver his vote after treatment for cancer.
But outside the loyal MAGA Republican base, the impeachment of Mayorkas over migration at the southern border was criticized.
“The reality is, the facts didn’t change in my opinion of him. I prosecuted for 25 years. I know what a high crime and misdemeanor are and I know that this doesn’t qualify. This is a policy difference,” said Rep Ken Buck, of Colorado, one of just three Republicans to vote against the impeachment. “You can try to put lipstick on this pig. It is still a pig. And this is a terrible impeachment. It sets a terrible precedent. The first impeachment of Donald Trump was a bad impeachment. And we’ve got to stop this in this body, or we are going to lose our credibility with the– further lose our credibility with you the American public.”
That three Republicans would vote against their own party’s impeachment is a statement, according to Rep Dan Goldman (D-NY), who was involved in the first impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019.
“When you have three members of your own party who stand up to what is a strong, strong push from Donald Trump, [Republican Rep] Marjorie Taylor Greene and all of the extreme far right, and they say, ‘You know what, this just doesn’t meet the standard for high crimes and misdemeanors, and I care about the Constitution more than I care about my party,’” Goldman said. “Mike Gallagher two days after he made that vote announced that he would not be running for re-election because there is no place in this Republican Party for someone who wants to do the right thing, not whatever the thing that the party wants.”
Gallagher is a Republican congressman from Wisconsin and Goldman was referring to Gallagher’s first vote to oppose the Mayorkas impeachment last week.
“And it’s a sad, sad reflection of this Republican Party, but the damage was done,” Goldman said. “They didn’t pass this last week. It is clear that not only the Republicans, but the American people, recognize that this is a complete sham, this is a political exercise, and they should reap the consequences at the ballot box in November.”
The impeachment now moves to the Senate to decide whether to remove Mayorkas from office. However, that's quite unlikely in a Senate controlled by Democrats.
In fact, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) already denounced the impeachment in a statement, as a “sham.”
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