House Votes Against Impeaching Mayorkas

This story has been updated with new developments. The House held a historic vote Tuesday on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas—and the move was shot down in a massive defeat for House Speaker Mike Johnson. The speaker had insisted he had enough votes for impeachment, but the measure failed in a 214-216 vote after a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it. GOP Reps. Ken Buck, Mike Gallagher and Tom McClintock voted against impeachment, CNN reports. Buck and McClintock had already said they would not vote to impeach Mayorkas for allegedly violating the law with policies at the US-Mexico border.

After the three "no" votes from Republicans ensured the impeachment bid would fail, Rep. Blake Moore, vice chair of the GOP conference, flipped his vote to "no" in a procedural move that will allow the two articles of impeachment to be reintroduced, Politico reports. Some Republicans predicted that would happen when House Majority Leader returns after treatment for blood cancer. After the Mayorkas vote, Johnson was handed another defeat when a bill to provide more military aid to Israel was defeated in a 250-180 vote, the AP reports. The "no" votes included 14 Republicans and 166 Democrats.

If the earlier measure had passed, Mayorkas would have been the first Cabinet official to be impeached in almost 150 years. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, slammed the proceedings as a "preplanned political stunt" during the debate before the vote, the New York Times reports. He said it was "about placating extreme elements within the Republican Congress rather than doing what's right for America." Rep. Mark Green, the committee's Republican chairman, accused Mayorkas of showing "brazen blanket disregard for the laws," asking, "What is the point of passing laws if we allow the executive to violate those laws with impunity? (More Alejandro Mayorkas stories.)