WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 214 to 213 to impeach U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, it mostly partisan vote, Iowa’s U.S. House delegation voted in favor of the two impeachment articles. This was the chamber’s second attempt after failing to reach the votes needed for impeachment and this marks the first time a sitting cabinet member has been impeached.
The first article of impeachment accuses Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
It reads, in part, “Throughout his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security. In large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States. His refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States, it also threatens our national security and has had a dire impact on communities across the country. Despite clear evidence that his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law has significantly contributed to unprecedented levels of illegal entrants, the increased control of the Southwest border by drug cartels, and the imposition of enormous costs on States and localities affected by the influx of aliens, Alejandro N. Mayorkas has continued in his refusal to comply with the law, and thereby acted to the grave detriment of the interests of the United States.”
The second article of impeachment accuses Mayorkas of a “breach of public trust.”
That article states, in part, that the Homeland Security Secretary “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
President Joe Biden called House GOP’s impeachment of Mayorkas “baseless.”
“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. Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, a Cuban immigrant who came to the United States with his family as political refugees, has spent more than two decades serving America with integrity in a decorated career in law enforcement and public service,” he said.
It is uncertain whether the Democrat-led U.S. Senate will hold a trial, and it is unlikely the chamber would vote to convict.
Iowa’s U.S. House delegation explained their support.
U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-IA 01, in a column explaining her vote in the first impeachment vote, wrote “I fully believe that Biden’s border crisis falls squarely on the shoulders of the President and the Secretary of DHS, and I cannot stand by and let the flow of illicit drugs continue to paralyze our communities.”
U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-IA 02, called the impeachment vote a “solemn, but necessary step.”
“If he’s opening his mouth, he is lying. He has willfully ignored immigration law and released hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into our country who should have been detained and deported. He has continually lied to Congress and the American people about bending and breaking our immigration laws to undermine border security and jeopardize the safety of every American,” she said in a released statement.
“Make no mistake, the border crisis has turned every American community into a border community and had impacted countless families in the process. Secretary Mayorkas is responsible for the worst humanitarian and national security crisis in our nation’s history,” U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-IA 03, said in a post on X that accompanied a video explaining his vote.
“President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas must end the border crisis today by enforcing our nation’s immigration laws, restarting construction on the border wall, and stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl into our communities. It’s as simple as that,” U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-IA 04, said in a released statement.
“Instead, under Secretary Mayorkas’ watch, over 10,000 illegal immigrants are crossing our border every day, our border patrol agents lack the support that they need to do their jobs, and fentanyl manufactured in China continues to flood our rural communities and take precious lives,” he added. “I regret that Secretary Mayorkas has failed to uphold his oath of office and protect our nation from foreign threats. For this reason and many more, I voted to impeach him for his dereliction of duty to the American people.”
