House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday.
The successful vote came a week after the first attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed last week.
The big picture: The House of Republicans voted 214-213 to impeach Mayorkas, with only three Republicans siding with Democrats.
- One of those Republicans was Rep. Tom McClintock (R–Elk Grove), who also voted against impeachment last week, saying at the time that impeachment should not be a political dispute.
- Republicans accuse Mayorkas of committing high crimes and misdemeanors over the crisis at the southern border.
- Following the House vote, Mayorkas’ future in the Biden Administration now goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate, which will decide to either hold a trial or dismiss the charges.
What they’re saying: “Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to comply with our federal immigration laws has undeniably led to the humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border,” said Rep. David Valadao (R–Hanford).
- “Over the past three years, our southern border has been overrun by drug cartels, terrorists, and human traffickers, and American families are paying the price,” Valadao added. “Impeachment is one of the highest powers available to Congress and should not be taken lightly. Secretary Mayorkas must be held accountable for refusing to comply with federal immigration laws.”
- Rep. Jim Costa (D–Fresno) slammed the decision.
- “House Republicans are wasting time on baseless impeachments instead of working with Democrats to fix our broken immigration system,” Costa said. “We have put forth a legislative solution to address the challenges at the border, but they refuse to bring it forth for a vote. This is nothing more than a political stunt to distract us from addressing the issues at hand.”
