House impeachment articles filed against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis may be in jeopardy as at least one Republican says that he will oppose them, and others have yet to come to a decision.
A “no” vote could derail the entire GOP effort to impeach the Biden administration official as House Republicans have a slim majority and Democrats signaled that they do not believe any of their rank-and-file members will break ranks to support the endeavor.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who is not seeking re-election this year, divulged to reporters on Thursday that he shifted from leaning against impeaching Mayorkas to a “solid” no after conversations with people inside and outside Congress. He called Mayorkas “terrible” and said the border is a “disaster,” but insisted these issues did not warrant impeachment.
Though many Republicans have voiced support for impeachment, others, including Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), said this week they were still considering how they might vote. Depending on attendance, the GOP bid to impeach Mayorkas can only withstand a small number of defections.
Two articles of impeachment allege Mayorkas has “willfully and systemically refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and “breached the public trust” by making false statements, “knowingly” obstructing lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, and making false statements to Congress.
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The House is expected to debate and vote on the articles as soon as next week after they passed out of committee early on Wednesday along party lines. If successful, it would be the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached since 1876. The articles face long odds of reaching a conviction in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
“I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the right thing, put aside the politics, and agree that before we can fix Secretary Mayorkas’ mess, Congress must finally hold this man accountable,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN).
House Democrats have panned the impeachment proceedings as a “political stunt,” while the White House went as far as to claim the endeavor is “unconstitutional.” Mayorkas pushed back against what he called “false accusations” levied against him.