House to Vote Again on Mayorkas Impeachment After Setback
FAIR Take | February 2024
Last Tuesday night, the House failed to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Mayorkas by a vote of 214-216. However, the House will reconsider the Secretary’s impeachment when all majority members are present, providing another chance to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable for his willful disregard of the law and breach of public trust. A second vote is scheduled for this week.
The failed impeachment vote offered drama for those watching Tuesday evening. Immediately before it began, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was seen huddled on the House floor with other members and staff while they stalled proceedings by holding a vote open a separate bill. Meanwhile, key aides conferred to ensure that Republicans had the votes needed to impeach the Secretary with an extremely narrow majority: 219 Republicans to 212 Democrats and four vacancies. That meant Republicans could only afford to lose three votes with all of their members present for impeachment to pass. Since Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) was absent due to health issues, the margin of error was even smaller for the House majority.
As expected, the vote was very close. Three GOP Congressmen – Tom McClintock (Calif.), Ken Buck (Colo.) and Mike Gallagher (Wis.) – voted against the impeachment, resulting in a one vote margin to impeach Mayorkas of 215-214. However, unexpectedly, Democrat Congressman Al Green (Texas), who had missed all previous votes on Tuesday, suddenly showed up to vote against the impeachment and tied the vote at 215-215. By rule, a tie vote loses in the House, and without the Majority Leader’s vote, House Republicans had no way to break the tie.
Given the deadlock, House leadership advised GOP Conference Vice Chairman Blake Moore (R-Utah) to flip his vote to “nay.” That move allows House Republicans the option to introduce a motion to reconsider impeachment. Under House rules, a motion to reconsider bills can only be raised by a Member who voted on the prevailing side. Vice Chairman Moore accordingly flipped his vote to be a member of the “winning” side, giving him the ability to introduce a motion to vote again when Majority Leader Scalise is present and able to break the tie.
Following the vote, House Republicans quickly asserted that they are not abandoning the effort to impeach Mayorkas. The Speaker’s office noted within the hour that they “fully intend” to vote again on the articles of impeachment. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green (R-Tenn.) also released a statement saying, “While I’m disappointed in the outcome of today’s vote, this is not the end of our efforts to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable. I look forward to Leader Scalise’s return.”
The impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas can’t come soon enough for the American people. Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to comply with the law and his breach of the public trust has created a historic disaster at our borders. The Secretary has had three years to change course to put the American people first, but has instead chosen to undermine the rule of law and usher in record levels of illegal immigration. This impeachment goes far deeper than policy differences—the Secretary has knowingly and willfully refused to secure our borders and violated our immigration laws, making Americans across the country less safe. The House must fulfill its duty to hold Mayorkas accountable for creating this crisis and inflicting untold damage on our nation.
To learn more about the case against Secretary Mayorkas, click here. To read the Articles of Impeachment, click here.