Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is forcing another vote on impeaching Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.
It’s the free-wheeling firebrand Republican’s second attempt in a matter of weeks at ousting the secretary. The last one failed when eight Republicans joined Democrats in voting against it.
The privileged resolution, which must be voted on within two days, comes as the House is wrestling with a vote on expelling Rep. George Santos from Congress and has not yet scheduled any votes on appropriations bills which must pass by early next year.
Greene told reporters she has not spoken to Speaker Mike Johnson about the resolution, but plans to keep forcing a vote on ousting Mayokas over and over until it passes.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is forcing another vote on impeaching Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas
‘It would have been something that I know Speaker McCarthy would have talked to me about,’ Greene said. ‘But I haven’t heard from Speaker Johnson at all.’
The movement to impeach Mayorkas lost steam when the House GOP began its efforts to impeach President Joe Biden. But Greene said she believed the House could impeach both.
‘I think we can do anything if we actually got to work,’ she said. ‘The problem is Republicans here don’t reflect their voters at all.’
And while most Republicans have shied away from criticizing Johnson one month into his speakership, Greene openly voiced her frustration.
‘At this point, yes, I’m frustrated. The only thing he’s done is passed Joe Biden’s budget,’ she said, referring to the continuing resolution (CR) that punted the government funding deadline into the new year and kept spending at 2023 levels.
‘We’re on the verge of apparently expelling a Republican member of Congress, but we can’t impeach Mayorkas. We can’t impeach Joe Biden. We can’t stop Jack Smith’s political persecution of President Trump.’
Greene addressed the eight Republicans who killed her resolution last time: ‘The eight Republicans that voted with the Democrats claimed that they wanted it to follow proper House procedure and go through the committee. But my articles of impeachment have been sitting in committee for over six months, and they’ve been basically sitting there collecting dust, not being picked up.’
Greene’s impeachment resolution accuses Mayorkas of failing to uphold U.S. law to maintain operational control of the border.
A DHS spokesperson called the new impeachment effort a ‘baseless attack’ that is completely without merit.’
‘Policy differences are not grounds for impeachment,’ the spokesperson also said, noting Mayorkas has testified before Congress more than any other secretary.
The movement to impeach Mayorkas, above, lost steam when the House GOP began its efforts to impeach President Joe Biden. But Greene said she believed the House could impeach both.
And while most Republicans have shied away from criticizing Johnson one month into his speakership, Greene openly voiced her frustration. ‘At this point, yes, I’m frustrated. The only thing he’s done is passed Joe Biden’s budget’
‘In his willful admittance of border crossers, terrorists, human traffickers, drugs and other contraband, Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas has failed to maintain operational control of the border, thereby violating the Secure Fence Act of 2006,’ the resolution claims.
Only one Cabinet secretary, Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, has ever been impeached, that time over corruption allegations.
Greene’s impeachment resolution accused him of failing to uphold U.S. law to maintain operational control of the border.
‘In his willful admittance of border crossers, terrorists, human traffickers, drugs and other contraband, Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas has failed to maintain operational control of the border, thereby violating the Secure Fence Act of 2006,’ the resolution claims.
Under the Biden administration, border agents have apprehended migrants more than 6.6 million times, with millions more estimated to have evaded border patrol.