The House will move forward with its efforts to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with a vote expected as soon as Tuesday to charge the top Biden administration official with high crimes and misdemeanors.
The vote comes after a monthslong push by House Republicans to charge the top border official with willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and a breach of the public trust. Impeachment only requires a simple majority vote in the lower chamber, but that could be easier said than done, as Republicans must grapple with a handful of vacant seats and possible absences that make their already slim majority more precarious.
After the resignation of former Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) on Friday, the House now has 431 members split between 219 Republicans and 212 Democrats. That means the magic number to approve the impeachment is 216 “yes” votes, giving Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a three-vote majority — but only if all members are present.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has been absent from the House over the last month due to medical reasons, and it’s not yet clear whether the No. 2 Republican will return in time for votes this week.
Meanwhile, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) has come out as a firm “no” on impeachment, bringing Republicans’ margin down to just two votes. Any more than that, and the resolution will fail to advance through the lower chamber.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) also telegraphed a “no” vote on Tuesday.
“The only way to stop the border invasion is to replace the Biden administration at the ballot box,” he posted on X. “Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans.”
Republicans previously voted on whether to charge Mayorkas after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) forced a vote on her impeachment resolution in mid-November 2023. However, that motion failed after eight Republicans voted with Democrats to refer the matter to the Homeland Security Committee, delaying any action.
However, a handful of those eight Republicans have flipped their vote to support the impeachment. Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-OR) told the Washington Examiner he would vote to impeach, arguing there is now enough evidence to charge Mayorkas with high crimes and misdemeanors. Reps. Michael Turner (R-OH) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who were also initial no votes, have later said they would now vote yes.
The remaining three holdouts — Reps. John Duarte (R-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Patrick McHenry (R-NC) — have not publicly said whether they’d support the new impeachment charges.
The latest resolution introduces two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, which may be brought up in two separate votes. If either of those passes, Mayorkas would be impeached, making him the first Cabinet member to be impeached since 1876.
If passed, the matter would then be moved to the Senate, where lawmakers will decide whether to convict Mayorkas on the charges.
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The decision to move forward with impeachment comes after a yearlong investigation headed by Republicans into Mayorkas and his handling of the southern border crisis. Democrats have decried those efforts, accusing their GOP counterparts of using impeachment as a political attack based on policy differences.
The impeachment also comes as lawmakers in both parties turn their focus to the surge in immigration at the southern border ahead of the 2024 election. The matter has emerged as a top concern for voters, even ahead of the economy, in states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
