One of the bigger quests of the House was to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The motion passed in the House and is expected to be put on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) desk next week, but this is not necessarily good for Republicans.
Talking Points…
- House impeaches Secretary Mayorkas
- Impeachment headed to the Senate
- Analysis
In February, the motion to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas was put on the House floor, and it passed barely. The vote came down at 214-213, with every Democrat voting no and three Republicans walking across the aisle to do the same. Had Democrats had everyone in the House that day, the motion would have been defeated, so keep that in mind as we move forward on this.
The three defections on the vote were Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who just retired, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who just announced that he will be leaving early, and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA).
Most mainstream media outlets have blistered Republicans for passing the measure, claiming there was "no evidence" that Mayorkas had done anything illegal, citing the federal authority regarding immigration laws. Republicans, however, continue to say that Mayorkas has not been enforcing our immigration laws and that he has more or less gone rogue to create this mess at the border. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, stated:
"For three years, Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and systemically refused to comply with the laws enacted by Congress.
"Make no mistake, Secretary Mayorkas's lawlessness is exactly what the framers of our Constitution designed impeachment to remedy. The historical record makes it clear — Congress holds impeachment power to hold accountable public officials who refuse to do their duty, and to deal with grave harms to our political order."
With the House passing the impeachment, it now goes to the Senate, where Democrats hold the advantage. While there are Democrats in the Senate who have spoken against Mayorkas and the problem at the border, stepping up to impeach Mayorkas in a Democratic administration is a very big ask, which leads us to the GOP's concerns in this matter.
Schumer announced this week that he would put the impeachment on the Senate floor. He stated:
"As we have said previously, after the House impeachment managers present the articles of impeachment to the Senate, Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day.
"Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray [D-Wash.] will preside."
This all sounds great, but the problem is that a single Senator can make a motion to dismiss the case as soon as the impeachment is brought to the floor. If that happens and they call a vote, and Democrats only need a simple majority to dismiss the case, which would kill the impeachment. Senator Cruz (R-TX) is already pushing that exact narrative, stating:
"Chuck Schumer is trying to break over 200 years of Senate precedent by tabling the impeachment trial.
"This would deny the American people the chance to hear the evidence about Biden's lawless open border policy."
Believe it or not, some Republicans in the Senate have vocally opposed Mayorkas's impeachment, so even if this came to a vote, it could still wind up being a bipartisan dismissal. I bring this up because this is exactly what would happen if the Biden impeachment passes the House.
This is an exercise in futility by Republicans in the House. For some, it will be what they ride for the election, which is why they went through with this in the first place, and it is why the impeachment of Biden continues to move forward in House investigations. If you do not have the majority in the Senate, an impeachment in the House is just for show. And believe me, there are Republicans in the Senate who definitely do not support the impeachment of Biden, so this exercise could do far more harm than good in terms of losing voter confidence.
I honestly wish there was better news on this, but this whole exercise is about to backfire on the GOP-run House, and now we have to see if it impacts voters to the point they remove Republicans from power in the House in November.
