U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, of Minnesota, was among the Republicans who pushed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, saying the secretary’s “malfeasance and active neglect has fueled the worst border crisis in our history.”
Push by Rep. Tom Emmer, other House Republicans to impeach U.S. Homeland Security secretary fails
As they tried to impeach the secretary for his handling of illegal immigration at the southern border, they also declared their opposition to a bipartisan Senate border security bill.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 7, 2024 at 12:28AM
The impeachment measure failed on a 214-216 vote, an embarrassing setback for House Republicans trying to punish the Biden administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border.
As they pushed for impeachment Tuesday, Emmer and other leading House Republicans declared their opposition to a bipartisan Senate border security bill that sought to reduce illegal crossings by making the asylum process tougher and quicker. The Senate bill would also give presidential administrations an emergency authority to suspend asylum claims if the number of illegal border crossings reaches a certain threshold.
Former President Donald Trump and his allies have come out against the Senate bill, deeming it insufficient. Border security has quickly become a potent political issue ahead of the 2024 election, with Trump and other Republicans seeking to blame President Joe Biden for the high number of migrants crossing the southern border.
“I believe that [if] we are serious about getting our borders under control and protecting our communities, impeachment is the necessary response,” Emmer said of Mayorkas on Tuesday. “Americans who have suffered for far too long under the Biden administration’s open borders agenda deserve nothing less.”
Emmer had accused Mayorkas of “willfully” refusing to enforce federal law and lying to Congress.
Another Minnesota Republican, Rep. Michelle Fischbach, said Mayorkas “has lost the trust of the American people and this Congress.”
“He’s failed to secure the border and has failed to uphold the national security of this country,” Fischbach posted Monday night on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Among Minnesota’s congressional delegation, Fischbach, Emmer and fellow GOP Reps. Pete Stauber and Brad Finstad voted to impeach Mayorkas. Democratic Reps. Betty McCollum, Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Dean Phillips voted against the measure.
Several U.S. House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, labeled Republicans’ attempted impeachment of Mayorkas as a political stunt. They said the charges leveled against Mayorkas were untrue and none of them met the Constitution’s standard of treason, bribery or ‘’high crimes and misdemeanors.’’
“Extreme MAGA Republicans have produced no evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has engaged in a high crime or misdemeanor, no evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has engaged in an impeachable offense,” Jeffries said on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. “Nothing but extreme MAGA Republican chaos and confusion and the effort to avoid doing the hard work necessary to find common ground to actually address the challenges at the border.”
Phillips dubbed the impeachment effort a “political sideshow.”
“This Republican Majority will go down in history as a complete nonentity,” Phillips said in a statement. “The Articles of Impeachment presented today are nothing more than a haphazard attempt to distract the American people from their failure to mount a serious legislative session.”
Jeffries accused House Republicans of walking away from negotiations on the bipartisan border security legislation because such a deal could be politically beneficial to Biden and not Trump.
In an interview on Fox News Tuesday morning, host Steve Doocy pressed Emmer about his opposition to the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill, noting the Border Patrol union and acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief had come out in favor of it.
“Are Republicans going to say that the Border Patrol union and the acting CBP chief are wrong?” Doocy asked Emmer.
“Well look, they can have their perspectives, Steve,” Emmer said, to which Doocy interrupted: “It’s their jobs, Tom!”
“Well, and it’s our job to actually make sure the laws will accomplish what we’re seeking to do,” Emmer responded.
This story contains material from the Associated Press.
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