After failing to pass the measure last week, the Republican-led House on Tuesday voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to enforce immigration laws, CBS News reported.
The two articles of impeachment barely squeaked through in a 214 to 213 vote, with three Republicans siding with Democrats against the measure.
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green hailed the vote, saying it would hold Mayorkas accountable.
The measure failed in the House on February 7 in a 214-216 vote, with four Republicans voting against impeachment.
Utah Republican Rep. Blake Moore switched his vote to No in a procedural maneuver that would allow the House to bring the measure to the floor for another vote.
Colorado Republican Ken Buck, who voted against the measure, suggested that the House should vote on it again after Majority Leader Steve Scalise returns to Capitol Hill. Scalise has been working remotely while undergoing cancer treatment.
Majority Leader Scalise returned to the House on Tuesday, paving the way for a second impeachment vote.
Mia Ehrenberg, a spokeswoman for DHS blasted the Republican House, accusing them of impeaching Mayorkas “without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds.”
In a statement from the White House, President Biden condemned the move as a “blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship.” He blasted Republican lawmakers for targeting “an honorable public servant” with “petty political games.”
Ultimately, the impeachment was largely symbolic as Mayorkas is unlikely to face conviction in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-MS) urged the Senate to acquit Mayorkas and said in a statement that history would judge the Republican House unfavorably for throwing the “integrity of the House, the Constitution, as well as any glimmer of working together, under the bus.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the impeachment vote, telling reporters on Tuesday that Secretary Mayorkas has refused to “do the job that the Senate confirmed him to do,” therefore the House “must act.”
