Pence
WASHINGTON — Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., voted in favor of House Republicans’ failed effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The stunning roll call fell just a single vote short of impeaching Mayorkas, stalling the Republicans’ drive to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border, The Associated Press reported. With Democrats united against the charges, the Republicans needed almost every vote from their slim majority to approve the articles of impeachment.
A noisy, rowdy scene erupted on the House floor as the vote was tied for several tense minutes, 215-215. Several Republican lawmakers — led by the impeachment’s chief sponsor, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — surrounded one of the holdouts, Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher, who refused to change his vote.
With the tally stuck, Democrats shouted for the gavel to close out the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s spokesman Raj Shah said they “fully intend” to reconsider the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas “when we have the votes for passage,” according to wire reports.
But next steps are uncertain. In the end, three Republicans opposed the impeachment, and a fourth Republican switched his vote so the measure could be revisited. The final tally was 214-216.
Not since 1876 has a Cabinet secretary faced impeachment charges and it’s the first time a sitting secretary is being impeached — 148 years ago, Secretary of War William Belknap resigned just before the vote.
The impeachment of Mayorkas landed quickly onto the House agenda after Republican efforts to impeach Biden over the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, hit a lull, and the investigation into the Biden family dragged, according to wire reports.
The impeachment charges against Mayorkas come as border security is fast becoming a top political issue in the 2024 election, a particularly potent line of attack being leveled at President Joe Biden by Republicans, led by the party’s front-runner for the presidential nomination, Donald Trump.
Record numbers of people have been arriving at the southern border, many fleeing countries around the world, in what Mayorkas calls an era of global migration, according to the AP. Many migrants are claiming asylum and being conditionally released into the U.S., arriving in cities that are underequipped to provide housing and other aid while they await judicial proceedings which can take years to determine whether they may remain.
The House Democrats united against the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, calling the proceedings a sham designed to please Trump, charges that do not rise to the Constitution’s bar of treason, bribery or “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Even if Republicans are able to impeach Mayorkas, he is not expected to be convicted in a Senate trial since Republican senators have been cool to the effort. The Senate could simply refer the matter to a committee for its own investigation, delaying immediate action.
The outcome was another dismal result for the House Republicans who have repeatedly been unable to use their majority power to accomplish political goals, or even to keep up with the basics of governing, according to wire reports.
Also on Tuesday night, Pence voted in favor of a $17.6 billion bill to provide Israel with more military aid that ultimately went down in defeat, spoiling a GOP effort to separate Israel from other national security priorities, including helping Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s military invasion and deterring crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The vote gave individual lawmakers another chance to show voters their support for Israel and could be used on the campaign trail to criticize those who voted against it, according to wire reports. But it did little to generate momentum toward passage of a final emergency spending package.
The House had already gone on the record in support of an Israel aid package. Johnson brought that package up in November on one of his first days as the new House speaker. The vote was in response to Hamas and other militants killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking captive some 240 men, women and children in an Oct. 7 attack.
Last year’s measure also included budget cuts to the Internal Revenue Service, according to wire reports. This time, there were no attempts to offset the new spending, which ended up alienating some of the Republican members concerned about federal deficits. Meanwhile, Democrats largely remained opposed, concerned passage of the bill would leave no way to get Ukraine more aid. The bill did manage to gain more Democratic support than during November’s vote but not nearly enough to pass.
Fourteen Republicans ended up voting against the bill, concerned about the lack of spending cuts to offset the $17.6 billion price tag. That compares to 204 Republicans who voted for it. On the Democratic side, 46 voted for it and 166 against.
Prior to the vote, the White House issued a statement announcing President Joe Biden’s intent to veto the bill if it were to reach his desk, according to wire reports. And Democratic leaders in both chambers said the only way forward requires a bipartisan approach.
By Andy East – The (Columbus) Republic is a sister newspaper of the Daily Journal.
