What Happened:
A Republican controlled House of Representatives led a charge on February 6 to try and impeach the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The impeachment vote came from Republicans accusing Mayorkas of mishandling the border. The Republican’s would have needed almost every member of their party to vote for impeachment. Democrat’s held the line and a few Republican’s voted against it, effectively failing the first vote.
After the vote, many Republican’s are ready to revisit the issue and garner more support for their colleagues. Democrat’s have claimed that this is a policy issue and that the Republican’s just don’t like President Biden’s immigration policies, so they are going after his appointed officials. Democrat’s claim that “it’s an issue for voters to decide” rather than fitting the description of “high crimes and misdemeanors”.
The Details:
Secretary Mayorkas has also claimed that he is dealing with an outdated and underfunded system. He is arguing that the ideas he had cannot be implemented with the current funding. Some of these ideas include an app for people to schedule a time to come to the border and be picked up by border agents.
There border has been a point of contention for the current administration. In the last few weeks, all eyes were on Texas as the state denied federal agents entry into certain parts of the border. Now, it seems like the fight has moved towards Congress as they struggle to find a border deal and try and impeach Secretary Mayorkas. It seems that many Republicans are hesitant to push for his impeachment, and that many Democrat’s are willing to stand by him.
Mayorkas has said that he is “ignoring the politics” and trying to do his job to the best of his ability. He has also claimed that he will absolutely defend himself if the impeachment progresses to the Senate. His supporters have claimed that the surge in numbers does not come from weak policies, but is driven by political and economic turmoil across the globe.
What’s Next:
Republican’s are likely not done trying to impeach Mayorkas. If the impeachment succeeds in the House, it will then move to the Senate which is held by a 51-49 Democrat majority. Unlike the House, the Senate will require a 2/3 majority to convict on the impeachment. This is incredibly unlikely as even the Republican’s in the Senate have seemed hesitant to say if they would vote for conviction.
There has also been very little movement in terms of a border deal. Originally, it seemed that they were going to be able to pass a aid package attached to the border bill but it seems neither side can agree on the provisions for either attachment. Some Democrat’s believe they are giving up to much, other Republican’s believe they are not asking for enough.
There is a vote later today to try and pass Ukraine aid without attaching the border aid to it.