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It was roughly 24 hours ago when the House Homeland Security Committee prepared to vote on a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and members knew it would likely take a while. Not only would there be a spirited debate over the merits of the endeavor, but Democrats had more than a few amendments they were eager to vote on.
Roughly eight hours later, Rep. Mark Green, the chair of the panel, said members would take a dinner break. “We want to give you guys an opportunity to go get fed and be ready because I think it’s going to be a long evening,” the Tennessee Republican said.
It was, by some measures, the only thing Green said during the proceedings that proved entirely accurate. Around 1 a.m., the committee wrapped up its work on the resolution, and as The New York Times reported, the outcome was not unexpected.
The House Homeland Security Committee approved two articles of impeachment early Wednesday against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, over his handling of the southwestern border, as Republicans raced forward with a partisan indictment of President Biden’s immigration policies. In an 18-to-15 party-line vote, the panel endorsed a resolution charging Mr. Mayorkas with refusing to uphold the law and breaching the public trust by failing to choke off a surge of migrants across the United States border with Mexico.
This is a story with a variety of moving parts, so some Q&A is probably in order.
What’s next for the impeachment resolution? Now that the Homeland Security Committee has approved the articles of impeachment, the measure will go to the House floor for a vote.
When will the vote happen? GOP leaders haven't yet laid out a specific timeline, but most expect to see a vote next week.
Will the House actually impeach Mayorkas? Given the incredibly narrow Republican majority in the chamber, the party can only lose a handful of votes, and there are a few GOP skeptics. In fact, during a related effort in November, eight GOP members balked, and if even half of them remain opposed, the resolution will fail.
That said, Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska — ostensibly one of his conference’s less radical members — announced his support for the impeachment resolution this week, which makes its success a bit more likely.
Are any Democrats on board with this scheme? Apparently not.
Do Republicans have evidence of the DHS secretary committing high crimes? No. The party is accusing him of failing to uphold immigration laws to Republicans’ satisfaction, but GOP lawmakers haven’t uncovered any evidence of high crimes or corruption.
Have Republicans presented a credible case? No. A variety of constitutional experts from the left, right, and center have slammed the effort, arguing that Republicans have failed to make their case and proceeding anyway risks doing dangerous harm. Even Jonathan Turley — ordinarily, a reliable ally for congressional Republicans — told GOP lawmakers they would be “wise to avoid” such a radical course. The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, which also tends to be aligned with GOP politics, has now also denounced the effort.
Making matters worse, part of the case against Mayorkas attempts to hold him responsible for actions taken by an entirely different cabinet secretary.
Isn’t this all a bit unusual? Very. The only time in American history that a cabinet secretary was impeached was in 1876, when the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap — after he left office — over alleged bribes. (He was later acquitted by senators.)
What happens if the resolution fails next week? In theory, GOP members could try again later in the year, but if the party tries and fails to impeach Mayorkas, it would likely end the Republicans’ impeachment crusade for the rest of the year, and the far-right GOP majority could, at least in theory, shift its attention to the governing responsibilities Republicans have ignored.
What happens if the resolution passes next week? Mayorkas would, at that point, be impeached, and the matter would be sent to the Senate for consideration. If 67 senators voted to convict the Homeland Security secretary, he’d be removed from office, but no one seriously believes that would happen. On the contrary, even many Senate Republicans have panned the effort as pointless and unnecessary.
Why should people care? In part because the GOP’s impeachment list is almost comically long, and if the Mayorkas measure advances, it’s likely that House Republicans would prepare to start impeaching others, including President Joe Biden.
But it also matters that the hapless GOP majority is engaged in a dramatic abuse, which would set a precedent that would reverberate. What would happen to the future of American politics if members of Congress decide they no longer need evidence of high crimes to impeach an official they don’t like?
This post updates our related earlier coverage.