By: Matthew Polyak

With the crisis at the border rapidly becoming more severe, House Republicans have finally managed to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas—one week following the failure of their original attempt.

Mayorkas is the first Cabinet Secretary to be impeached since 1876. House Republicans’ original attempt at impeaching Mayorkas failed 216-214, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) insisted that a second impeachment hearing would be held. The hearing, which was held on February 13th, ended in a 214-213 vote in favor of Republicans. Every single House Democrat voted against impeachment, with 3 Republicans joining them.

House Majority Leader Republican Steve Scalise missed the first vote—which proved to be a critical blow to the Republicans. However, he would show up the second time around to help strengthen the vote to impeach Mayorkas. Scalise was away from Washington D.C. for cancer care prior to his return.

Mayorkas was impeached on two articles, which accuse him of “willfully and systemically” refusing to comply with federal immigration laws and breaching the trust of the public with false statements that obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorkas was already investigated last year as the country went through a surge in illegal immigration alongside high fentanyl poisonings linked with drug traffickers crossing the border illegally.

The impeachment also played out as a bipartisan bill in the Senate regarding immigration reform and foreign aid. Democrats have labeled Mayorkas’ impeachment as a “political stunt,” with President Biden saying that “history will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games.”

“I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted,” Mayorkas previously wrote in a letter to the House Homeland Security Committee.

On the other hand, Republicans have labeled his impeachment as a “necessary action.” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, who led the investigation into Mayorkas, argued on Tuesday that lawmakers “exhausted all other options,” making impeachment the only recourse left available to lawmakers. “Our oath to the Constitution now requires us to exercise this solemn duty,” he added.

Returning representative Steve Scalise said, after the vote’s conclusion, that “it sends a message that we’re not just going to sit by while the Secretary of Homeland Security fails to do his job at keeping our homeland safe.” The articles of impeachment will travel to the Senate, but there is no chance that Mayorkas will be convicted, as the Democrats occupy a Senate majority. House Republicans know this, and it quite clearly is a show for political points.

Tom McClintock was one of the 3 Republicans who voted against impeaching Mayorkas. He stated that “I opposed impeaching Mayorkas for the same reasons I opposed the sham impeachments of Donald Trump. The Constitution reserves impeachment for treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors. Mayorkas is guilty of maladministration, but that is not grounds for impeachment.”

Representative McClintock is correct—but only in a perfect world. In such a world where politics isn’t a dirty business, the correct thing would be to not impeach Mayorkas. He has not committed any high level crimes, so he should not have had articles of impeachment levied against him.

Unfortunately, a world of irreproachable purity in politics is pure fantasy. Politics is an incredibly dirty business. Impeachment has become heavily political, especially after both impeachments of Donald Trump.

In politics, being the bigger person will have you eaten alive by the lions. If Democrats want to play by that game, Republicans will play by the same rules. There is no double standard. It is quite obvious that impeaching Mayorkas is a decision based of politics.

Nonetheless, Mayorkas has been a terrible DHS Secretary. December 2023 saw the number illegal immigrants arrested at around 249,735—a record breaking number, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.

Drug trafficking and human trafficking have also been huge problems recently plaguing the U.S. southern border. Illegal immigrants have flooded into major cities. For example, the streets of downtown New York City are now newly populated with them.

And regardless of what his staff say, he simply has not been good enough, nor has he done enough. And in the current political sphere with the already-present politicization of impeachment, he absolutely deserves to be impeached—even if it is just for show.

Sources:

• dailywire.com
• foxnews.com
• apnews.com
• cbsnews.com
• reuters.com
• cnn.com
• cbp.gov