House Votes to Impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

(UnitedHeadlines.com) – After a failed vote Feb. 6, the House voted 214-213 to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Feb. 13 over the crisis at the southern border.

House Republicans allege that Mayorkas, the first Cabinet secretary to face impeachment in almost 150 years, has deliberately and willfully allowed the crisis at the border to continue to get worse by failing to enforce immigration policies. They allege that by failing to secure the southern border, Mayorkas has not lived up to his oath to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of his office.

Two Democrats, California Rep. Judy Chu and Florida Rep. Lois Frankel, missed the Feb. 12 vote, while three Republicans, California Rep. Tom McClintock, Colorado Rep. Ken Buck and Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, voted with the Democrats against impeaching Mayorkas. The three Republicans also sided with Democrats in the Feb. 6 vote. However, Republicans were able to secure the votes to impeach Mayorkas Feb. 12 because House Majority Leader and Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise returned after missing the Feb. 6 vote due to undergoing treatment for cancer.

In a Feb. 12 statement, President Joe Biden called the impeachment a “political stunt.” He added that Mayorkas has “faithfully” upheld the law.

The impeachment vote heads to the Democratic-led Senate, where the impeachment appears to be a nonstarter as it needs a two-thirds majority vote in the 100-member Senate for the impeachment to succeed. Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford has already criticized the impeachment and called it “dead on arrival” in the Senate. However, the House will still present the impeachment articles to the Senate Feb. 26, when the Senate returns from recess.

The increase in border crossings has put a strain on resources in the United States, with lawmakers across the country seeking help from the federal government. Since Biden took office in January, over 6.3 million migrants have crossed the southern border, illegally entering the United States, and the month of December set a record for more than 300,000 migrant encounters.