Having failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the first time, House Republicans are determined to try again Tuesday, but it's not at all certain the do-over vote will produce a better tally after last week's politically embarrassing setback. The evening vote is expected to be tight with Speaker Mike Johnson's threadbare GOP majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to impeaching Mayorkas, the first Cabinet secretary facing charges in nearly 150 years, the AP reports.
Despite the expected arrival of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who will bolster the GOP numbers after being away from Washington for cancer care, even one other missing or weather-delayed lawmaker could imperil the Mayorkas impeachment. If the vote pushes later into the week, the outcome of Tuesday's special election in New York to replace ousted Rep. George Santos could tip the balance further. On Monday, Johnson posted a fists-clenched photo with Scalise, announcing his remission from cancer, saying, "looking forward to having him back in the trenches this week!"
If the House succeeds in impeaching Mayorkas, the charges against him would go to the Senate for a trial, but neither Democratic nor Republican senators have shown interest in the matter and it may be indefinitely shelved to a committee. After a months-long investigation, the House Homeland Security Committee filed two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas last month—arguing that he "willfully and systematically" refused to enforce existing immigration laws and that he breached the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure. Democrats slammed the impeachment effort as a political stunt.
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