The White House is underscoring how Republicans sided with Democrats to temporarily delay the House GOP’s attempts to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the border crisis.
“Clearly,” there is “bipartisan agreement” that House Republicans’ impeachment effort is “baseless,” “unconstitutional,” and “should fail,” according to Ian Sams, the White House’s spokesman for oversight and investigations.
“House Republicans ought to realize that extreme political stunts like this are a waste of time, and instead join the President, Secretary Mayorkas, and Republicans and Democrats who want to work together to deliver real solutions that actually strengthen border security,” Sams wrote Tuesday in a statement.
Sams issued the statement after House Republicans mismanaged a floor vote on Mayorkas’s articles of impeachment, alleging high crimes and misdemeanors regarding his role in President Joe Biden‘s response to a record number of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border. The final tally was 214-216 after Rep. Al Green (D-TX) made a surprise appearance in a wheelchair after undergoing surgery, while Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was not present, as expected, due to health problems.
“This is sad and embarrassing,” Sams added on social media. “It is even more embarrassing for House Republicans that they are trying to ram through a baseless impeachment that even conservative lawyers and scholars say is completely unconstitutional.”
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), one of the Republican defectors, told CNN another Mayorkas impeachment vote is anticipated Wednesday morning, with a spokesman for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) not confirming the timetable.
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“House Republicans fully intend to bring Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas back to the floor when we have the votes for passage,” Raj Shah wrote on X.
The impeachment campaign coincides with another bipartisan measure, also concerning border security, collapsing in the Senate on Wednesday after former President Donald Trump put pressure on Republicans in both chambers not to support it before November’s likely election between him and Biden.
