House Republicans Impeach Mayorkas, Here Are The 3 Who Voted ‘Nay’
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas became the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached since the 1870s when House Republicans passed the measure on Tuesday with a vote of 214 to 213.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) touted the accomplishment following the historic vote.
According to The Hill:
“Alejandro Mayorkas deserves to be impeached, and Congress has a constitutional obligation to do so,” Johnson said in a statement after the vote.
My statement on the House voting to impeach Secretary Mayorkas: pic.twitter.com/CwNdm4XQkU
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 14, 2024
Johnson had to contend with a razor-thin majority, a vote in New York Tuesday night that could narrow that majority even further, and a storm that threatened to keep Republicans from the Capitol.
The vote was made possible only by the return of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who missed last week’s vote while undergoing treatment for blood cancer. Republican leadership brought the vote to the floor last Tuesday thinking they had enough members to clinch a win, only to be surprised by the return of Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who left the hospital bed where he was recovering from surgery to cast his “no” vote in a dramatic twist.
Other lawmakers who approved the measure also weighed in on social media:
Proud of our Republican conference for working together to stand with the American people to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable for his blatant violation of our border laws.
Tonight, we voted to IMPEACH MAYORKAS! pic.twitter.com/mIjHKpIpyi
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) February 14, 2024
To all families who have lost a loved one due to Joe Biden’s man-made border crisis, we have answered the call:
Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas has been IMPEACHED.
House Republicans stand with the American people to ensure everything that can be done, will be done to SECURE OUR NATION. pic.twitter.com/rLp5jtyZlW
— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) February 14, 2024
Alejandro Mayorkas has just been impeached by the House of Representatives.
His open-borders policies have led to ACTUAL death and destruction within our country.
It is now incumbent upon the Senate to take this up and remove this man from office.
He has NO place in our… pic.twitter.com/roFLagBJJr
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) February 14, 2024
Only three House Republicans voted against impeachment, Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock of California.
For Gallagher, the vote came just days after he announced he would not be seeking re-election.
As the Associated Press reported:
Gallagher did not mention the impeachment vote in a statement announcing his retirement, saying only that he doesn’t want to grow old in Washington.
“The Framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives,” Gallagher said. “Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old. And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election.”
He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the backlash over the impeachment vote did not play a role in his decision.
“I feel, honestly, like people get it, and they can accept the fact that they don’t have to agree with you 100%,” he told the newspaper, adding later in the interview: “The news cycle is so short that I just don’t think that stuff lasts.”
Here’s some coverage of the monumental vote:
