House of Representatives Democrats are decrying the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as a “political” stunt.
Representative Anna Eshoo, D-C.A, said that Mayorka’s historic impeachment on Tuesday was a “political stunt” and that there was “no evidence of wrongdoing.”
“With no evidence of wrongdoing, House Republicans voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas today after the House rejected an identical resolution last week,” Rep. Eshoo said. “This is an abuse of the solemn power of impeachment which the Constitution reserves for extraordinary circumstances when officials have engaged in serious misconduct. Secretary Mayorkas is the first cabinet secretary impeached in nearly 150 years and the first ever impeached without evidence of impropriety.”
“Astonishingly, House Republicans took this drastic step while refusing to even consider the bipartisan border security bill proposed by Senate negotiators. It’s long past time for Republicans to abandon their harmful political stunts and instead work to advance real solutions to our nation’s challenges,” the Representative continued.
HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to face a House impeachment vote. (Getty Images)
Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-W.A, a member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, said that the “do-nothing” Republicans continue to “waste time and resources” on “baseless, partisan attacks.”
“Today, the ‘do-nothing’ Republican Party continues to waste time and resources that could be spent working for the American people on baseless, partisan attacks of Biden Administration officials as they take up this sham impeachment vote of Secretary Mayorkas for the second time in two weeks, after an embarrassing failure last week,” Rep. Jayapal said in a statement.
“There is no question that the immigration system is broken – and what the American people want and deserve is an orderly and humane system that properly processes people and modernizes an outdated immigration system that has not been updated in over 30 years to reflect for the needs of our American economy, communities, and families. The situation that we’re seeing at the southern border is a direct result of this failure to address the underlying system, compounded by the extreme policies of the Trump Administration,” she continued.
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. House Republicans plan to try again to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, after a vote on the impeachment resolution failed last week. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., previously called the case against Mayorkas a “sham impeachment” and a “new low for House Republicans.”
“This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans,” Schumer said. “The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump.”
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas holds a press conference at a U.S. Border Patrol station on January 08, 2024 in Eagle Pass, Texas. (John Moore/Getty Images)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that the vote moved forward “without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds.”
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“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border,” DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement. “While Secretary Mayorkas was helping a group of Republican and Democratic Senators develop bipartisan solutions to strengthen border security and get needed resources for enforcement, House Republicans have wasted months with this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment.
Dingell warned that recent polling in Michigan shows a “problem” for President Joe Biden’s re-election. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden blasted House Republicans immediately after the vote.
“History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games,” he said.
Biden said that Republicans have pushed Mayorkas’ “baseless impeachment” and rejected bipartisan plans.
“Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to deliver more border resources and stronger border security. Sadly, the same Republicans pushing this baseless impeachment are rejecting bipartisan plans Secretary Mayorkas and others in my administration have worked hard on to strengthen border security at this very moment — reversing from years of their own demands to pass stronger border bills,” Biden continued.
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. House Republicans plan to try again to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, after a vote on the impeachment resolution failed last week. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Biden said that Congress has to give his administration the tools to address the southern border and that the House GOP has to “decide whether to join us to solve the problem or keep playing politics with the border.”
HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP
“Giving up on real solutions right when they are needed most in order to play politics is not what the American people expect from their leaders. Congress needs to act to give me, Secretary Mayorkas, and my administration the tools and resources needed to address the situation at the border. The House also needs to pass the Senate’s national security supplemental right away. We will continue pursuing real solutions to the challenges Americans face, and House Republicans have to decide whether to join us to solve the problem or keep playing politics with the border,” Biden said.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The Democrat’s statement came after Mayorkas was impeached by the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.
A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876.
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The 214-213 vote was always expected to be tight; Mayorkas narrowly escaped impeachment last week when every single House Democrat showed up to shield him, including Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who temporarily left the hospital where he was recovering from surgery to cast his vote.
Three Republicans also voted down the effort: Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., Ken Buck, R-Colo., and Tom McClintock, R-Calif.
Reps. Anna Eshoo, Pramila Jayapal, Sen. Schumer and the Department for Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
