The House of Representatives' plan to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has failed as four Republicans voted "no" to the measure.
ZeroHedge reported that the impeachment effort against Mayorkas at the lower chamber failed on Feb. 6 due to three GOP lawmakers voting alongside Democrats. The three GOP defectors were Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, California Rep. Tom McClintock and Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher.
Another GOP lawmaker, Utah Rep. Blake Moore, flipped his "yea" vote to a "nay" in order to preserve the ability to bring motions to reconsider. Such motions can only be brought by someone who voted "no," ZeroHedge pointed out.
In the articles of impeachment, Mayorkas was accused of demonstrating a "willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law" and "breaching the public trust." Under his tenure at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), more than 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States. Democrats meanwhile suggested that Mayorkas' shortcomings were nothing more than disagreements over policy or performance failings, not impeachable crimes. (Related: Dear House GOP: Stop making excuses and impeach Alejandro Mayorkas immediately.)
A day before the impeachment proceedings collapsed, the White House said on Feb 5. that doing so "would be an unprecedented and unconstitutional act of political retribution that would do nothing to solve the challenges our nation faces in securing the border." The White House also suggested that Mayorkas, who failed to secure the homeland, has been a great secretary.
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But Tennessee Rep. Mark Green begged to differ. According to the congressman from the Volunteer State, the homeland security secretary "is the very type of public official the Framers feared – someone who would cast aside the laws passed by a co-equal branch of government, replacing those with his own preferences."
Had the House succeeded in impeaching Mayorkas, he would have been the second cabinet secretary in U.S. history to be impeached. Before this attempt, former Secretary of War William Belknap – who served under the late former President Ulysses Grant – was the first one.
Buck defends his "no" vote
In a Feb. 5 op-ed published in The Hill, Buck argued why he wouldn't vote in favor of impeaching Mayorkas – which he did the following day. He wrote that while the secretary may be incompetent, his behavior wasn't impeachable. The congressman for the Centennial State also warned that doing so would set a bad precedent that would come back to bite the GOP in the future.
"My House GOP colleagues are on the precipice of impeaching … Mayorkas [for] … completely failing in his job to secure the southern border. To be clear, [he] 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 U.S.," wrote Buck.
"However, the Constitution is clear that impeachment is reserved for 'treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.' Maladministration or incompetence does not rise to what our Founders considered an impeachable offense."
Buck added that Mayorkas' "failed policies and decisions … clearly reflect the views and policies of President [Joe] Biden and his administration." He also noted that the secretary won't be convicted in a Democrat-led Senate. Moreover, "if Mayorkas were to be removed from office, it's likely that Biden would appoint another incompetent official who would carry out this same failed approach."
The Colorado congressman ultimately warned: "Partisan impeachments that do not meet the constitutional standard will boomerang back and hurt Republicans in the future. I can envision a future Republican administration where a Democrat-led House uses this precedent to act against a Republican Cabinet member who isn’t discharging their duties in a way that Democrats desire."
ZeroHedge's Tyler Durden begged to differ, however. He decried Buck's weakness, remarking: "With friends like these, who needs enemies?"
Head over to BigGovernment.news for similar stories.
Watch Rep. John Breechen (R-OK) explains that the House's impeachment against Mayorkas is "about the rule of law."
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