214 House Republicans vote to impeach Mayorkas despite no evidence of any crimes

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly defeated an effort on Feb. 6 to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a vote of 214-216. Nearly every House Republican voted for the resolution despite presenting no evidence that he committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

The resolution, authored by Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, did not specify any actual illegal acts, instead accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of the public trust.”

All 212 Democrats and Republican Reps. Ken Buck (CO), Mike Gallagher (WI), and Tom McClintock (CA) voted no. House Republican Caucus Chair Blake Moore (UT) also backed the effort, but switched his vote to no at the last minute for procedural reasons, allowing him to move to reconsider and potentially force another vote later. 

Republicans charge that Mayorkas failed to follow the law when he and his team issued guidelines in 2021 to prioritize in immigration law enforcement “the apprehension and removal of noncitizens who are a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security and advance the interests of justice by ensuring a case-by-case assessment of whether an individual poses a threat.” Congress has failed to enact comprehensive immigration reform, and border security agents have been stretched thin by an immigration spike that began in 2005. 

California Republican Rep. Tom McClintock said in a Feb. 6 letter to colleagues that the articles of impeachment “fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed.”

No Cabinet secretary has been impeached since 1876.

The impeachment attempt came as the Republican majority in the House has struggled to enact the legislation promised in its 2022 “Commitment to America” to boost the economy, protect public safety, protect freedom, and hold the government accountable. Mired in intraparty fighting, it passed almost no legislation in 2023 and saw just 34 bills and resolutions become law in the entire year — well below the average in recent decades.

Many Republican representatives who supported the Mayorkas impeachment vocally opposed the impeachments of President Donald Trump, calling them partisan and a waste of time. 

Trump was impeached in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to his attempts to delay security aid to Ukraine in an effort to pressure its government to dig up dirt on his political opponents. He was again impeached in 2021 on charges of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In both cases, he was acquitted by the Senate.  

“I oppose impeachment as well as other methods of denying President Trump his lawful term in office,” newly sworn-in Rep. Matt Rosendale said in a January 2021 statement. “Efforts to impeach or remove the president are media stunts drawn from left-wing fever dreams. January 20th will mark the transfer of power to president elect Biden.”

He is a co-sponsor of a resolution to expunge that impeachment. 

But he has been pushing for Mayorkas to be impeached for months and co-sponsored Greene’s resolution.

“Anyone who says the migrant crisis is under control is simply lying,” he tweeted in June 2023. “The number of illegals living in the US has increased by nearly 17 MILLION since Biden took office. Mayorkas must be impeached!”

“Sec. Mayorkas’ open-border policies have killed over 60 Montanans just this year and allowed enough fentanyl to flow into Montana that can kill 1/3 of our state’s population,” he said in November. “This invasion at our border and chemical attack on our country must stop, which is why I am calling for an immediate vote on the resolution to impeach Sec. Mayorkas and end this Administration’s America last agenda.”

Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke was not in Congress at the time of either Trump impeachment.