WASHINGTON — Republicans are hoping the second time will be a charm.
House Republicans will try again Tuesday to send articles of impeachment through the Capitol to the Democratic-led Senate, exactly a week after they failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his border handling.
They have zero room for error. Last week, a trio of skeptical Republicans — Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California, and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin — joined all Democrats in a 215-215 tie, halting an impeachment vote and dealing an embarrassing blow to the speaker. Mike Johnson, R-La. and its management team.
Faced with a blow from his party, Gallagher said he would do the weekend don’t want to be re-elected this fall.
He returns to Washington this week after taking on Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. treatment of blood cancer, Republicans hope to be back in full force and this time with the votes to impeach Majorca. But with the margins so tight, unexpected layoffs, especially a heavy snowstorm in the Northeast, could be a factor complicating travel to Washington.
The GOP also wants to regroup and move forward now because of Tuesday’s potential impact Special election to replace George Santosousted former New York Republican congressman.
If the Democratic nominee, former Rep. Tom Suozzi, defeats Republican Mazie Philip and is quickly sworn in, it means Republicans could lose just two GOP lawmakers on any given vote, and the Mallorcas impeachment would likely be dead.
If Tuesday’s vote is successful, Mayorkas will become the second Cabinet secretary in US history to be impeached. the first in nearly 150 years.
Voting follows the collapse of a rare bipartisan Senate deal it would impose stricter asylum and border policies. But former President Donald Trump and Johnson voiced strong objections to the deal, saying it did not go far enough to curb illegal immigration, and Senate GOP leaders involved in the negotiations soon abandoned the deal, leaving it pending any potential border legislation. After the November elections.
During an appearance NBC’s “Meet the Press” Mallorca on Sunday dismissed the articles of impeachment as “baseless accusations” and rejected the idea that it was responsible for the large number of migrants illegally crossing the southern border.
“This is certainly a crisis, and we are not responsible for a broken system, and we are doing great things within that broken system,” he said. “But in principle, Congress is the only one who can fix it.”
The GOP impeachment resolution, originally authored by far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., cleared the House Homeland Security Committee late last month and consists of two articles.
The first accuses Majorcans of “willfully and systematically” refusing to comply with federal immigration laws. That’s why, he says, “millions of aliens enter the United States illegally each year, and many remain in the United States illegally.”
The second article alleges that Mayorkas “violated the public trust” by making false statements to Congress and knowingly obstructing congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
While all but a handful of House Republicans have united behind the impeachment initiative, several GOP senators have poured cold water on the effort. Given that a two-thirds vote, or 67 senators, is needed to convict and remove the secretary, whose Democratic Party controls the Senate, Mayorkas is almost certain to be acquitted by the Senate.