Republican Party suffers the most humiliating 24 hours in recent memory

Posted on by Mark Sumner

Every party loses an election now and then. Both parties have spent whole decades on the outs, railing from the sidelines while their opponents controlled the agenda. However, it’s hard to think of a 24-hour period where any party has suffered so many self-inflicted disasters as the Republican Party experienced on Tuesday.

This beautiful run of disintegrating dignitas began on Monday evening when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke out to explain why the border security deal that had been negotiated over months was exactly what was needed to address “a humanitarian and security crisis of historic proportions.” Then he went behind closed doors three hours later to kill the bill on orders from Donald Trump. 

The morning opened to chaos. Sen. James Lankford, who had been McConnell’s chief negotiator on the bill, explained how it felt to be run over by a bus. McConnell, who once completely dictated the actions of Republicans in the Senate, was revealed as a sad puppet. The remaining Republicans were left stumbling over themselves, trying to justify sabotaging the best deal they’re ever going to get.

In hours Republicans took the issue at the heart of their 2024 campaign and turned it into an anchor that President Joe Biden will hang around their necks.

And their day only went downhill from there.

After a morning spent scrambling to create a reason for their actions that went beyond simple fear of Trump, Republicans got some troubling news about their golden ruler. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia took Trump to task with a 57-page decision that shredded any delusions about “absolute immunity.”

For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant. But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution.

The unanimous decision was extensive and authoritative enough that experts are suggesting the Supreme Court might not consider Trump’s appeal, assuming Trump’s crack legal team manages to meet the short filing deadline provided by the appellate court.

But that was far from the end. Over on the House side of the Capitol, Republicans had cooked up the ridiculous impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for not being tougher on the border. Despite having just shot down a bill to get tougher on the border, they were determined to plunge blindly ahead under untested Speaker Mike Johnson.

Once again, Republicans learned that just because Nancy Pelosi made running a House vote look easy, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

The reason Republicans were so eager to hold the vote on Tuesday evening was because they knew that Democratic Rep. Al Green was in the hospital after undergoing emergency abdominal surgery on Friday. Republicans hoped to take advantage of Green’s absence to give them a buffer against any Republican defections from their unjustified and patently ridiculous impeachment.

But with the vote already underway, Green appeared in a wheelchair to cast the decisive vote, putting the motion into a 215-215 tie. Johnson was forced to flip his vote to preserve the issue for a re-vote at a later date, resulting in a stunning and deeply embarrassing loss for the Republicans.

Democrat Al Green surprised Rs when he showed up for the Mayorkas impeachment vote tonight -- and ultimately helped Ds sink sink measure. (It will pass when when Scalise returns.) But Dem leaders were ready. "It was not a surprise," House Minority Whip Katherine Clark told me pic.twitter.com/HpyJbWBt75

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 7, 2024

And the night still wasn’t over.

Earlier in the week, Republicans had prepared a stand-alone aid package for Israel in hopes that they could avoid having to vote on the Ukraine assistance and border security bill they had demanded for months. Johnson tried to push the Israel assistance package through using an accelerated procedure that required two-thirds of the votes. 

Proving once again that counting is considered higher math for this Republican team, that bill also failed, falling over 30 votes short.

Republicans have suggested that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who missed the Tuesday night vote while undergoing cancer treatment, will be back on Wednesday so they can call a do-over. However, there is disagreement on this point.

Scalise’s office tells me his return “won’t be tomorrow” https://t.co/ZxyY0McK3S

— Morgan Phillips (@_phillipsmorgan) February 7, 2024

But if there is one thing this Republican-led House knows how to do, it’s hold one humiliating vote after another. So they will probably make it happen someday. 

But even after these two disastrous votes, the day still wasn’t over.

Soon after Johnson finally gaveled an end to fruitless efforts in the House, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel announced that she was stepping down. McDaniel has been under heavy pressure from Trump for failing to keep the RNC coffers filled with cash. 

McDaniel is the niece of Sen. Mitt Romney, but she stopped using her family name at Trump’s request. Now he has essentially fired her. As usual, Trump’s idea of loyalty is strictly one-way.

Republicans are rolling into the new day with absolutely nothing to show for surrendering everything to Trump. The best bill they could have hoped to negotiate is gone, they didn’t get their sham impeachment, they didn’t get their Israel-without-Ukraine funding package, and the chair of the party is packing up to leave. Meanwhile, Trump is entering the day with a much greater chance that he will face criminal proceedings before the election.

There aren’t a lot of New York Times headlines that bear repeating, but this one works:  

And it’s only Wednesday.

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Schumer presses forward with Ukraine Plan B as GOP leaders reel

Posted on by By Rachael Bade

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to push ahead with a new foreign aid plan Wednesday, putting new pressure on the two top Republicans on Capitol Hill — both of whom are facing fresh questions about their leadership after a series of high-profile flops this week.

Schumer's move comes after a Senate border security plan, negotiated over the course of months in a bid to unlock aid to Ukraine and Israel, collapsed just days after its release. According to a Senate Democratic aide briefed on his plans, Schumer will call a vote to open debate on a standalone aid bill if a procedural vote on the border plan fails as expected Wednesday.

The move threatens to again expose a divide inside the GOP between traditionalist defense hawks who firmly support Ukraine aid and a more isolationist wing aligned with former President Donald Trump.

Caught in the middle are Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who are both reeling from embarrassing setbacks.

House Republicans on Tuesday failed to muster the necessary votes for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas or a $17.6 billion aid package for Israel, once again putting a spotlight on Johnson’s inability to shepherd his slim majority.

Meanwhile, the border deal's collapse in the Senate has McConnell's critics — and, privately, even some of his allies — casting new doubt on the veteran leader’s once formidable ability to corral his diverse conference.

A lion in winter?

An outspoken proponent of Ukraine aid, McConnell embraced a push last year to link tough new border policies to the foreign-aid supplemental, thus buying conservative support. He deputized conservative Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) to cut a deal.

But the deal Lankford cinched was torn to tatters in the span of 48 hours thanks to opposition from Trump, McConnell’s political nemesis. Most GOP senators — including some of McConnell’s closest allies — are expected to vote today against even debating it.

If it fails as expected, McConnell will be faced with a new challenge: Schumer's plan is to quickly move to launch debate on a foreign aid bill that omits the border agreement.

McConnell has indicated he is likely to back such a package, viewing it as essential to backstop the Ukrainians in their fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s force. But it is in serious question whether he can manage — or will even try — to bring the rest of his conference along.

The backdrop is stark: McConnell’s longtime critics have been emboldened by the border deal's collapse. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) called it a “betrayal” and is demanding new leadership. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) posted a meme mocking McConnell, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has explicitly called for McConnell to step down.

“It’s not James Lankford’s fault. It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said. Added Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.): “These were real tactical errors that he's made — and, you know, I think his public opinion polls show it.”

McConnell fired back in an exclusive interview with POLITICO. He argues that his critics “had their shot” to vote him out as leader a year ago and failed. He blamed them for the party’s confounding, boomeranging strategy over the border. And he argued that solving the problems they identified requires working with Democrats.

“The reason we’ve been talking about the border is because they wanted to, the persistent critics,” McConnell said. “You can’t pass a bill without dealing with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate.”

McConnell, of course, has outflanked and outlasted his critics for years, and he retains the confidence of most Senate Republicans, who can’t oust him mid-term even if they want to.

Still, one senior GOP aide who admires the longtime leader said the crescendo in whispers is unmistakable: “Can Mitch continue doing this?”

“He’s been an incredibly consequential and strategic leader, always thinking about where the conference needs to be and looking around the corners,” this person said. “None of that’s happening. It’s not the same.”

The collapse of the border deal and the reaction from his critics on the MAGA right have made obvious that there is no tenable way for McConnell to remain leader if Trump is elected. And even with Trump as GOP nominee, it will be exceedingly difficult.

“That’s oil and water,” Johnson said. “That wouldn’t work very well.”

Johnson's bad day

Johnson, meanwhile, pushed forward Tuesday with the impeachment vote in the face of numerous red flags, expressing confidence throughout the day yesterday that he had the votes to oust Mayorkas.

But those assurances evaporated as Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) — a respected former Marine officer and committee chair — made good on threats to oppose the articles, joining Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), who have long argued that policy differences aren’t grounds for impeachment.

Johnson and the rest of the GOP leadership team, meanwhile, didn’t have a firm grasp on their whip count. They appeared to assume that Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) — who’d been in the ER for surgery yesterday — wouldn’t show. But in a dramatic moment, he was wheeled into the chamber wearing scrubs to cast the decisive vote.

That spurred a last-gasp effort to strongarm Gallagher into changing his vote, with fellow Republicans warning the Wisconsin Republican of serious blowback from the base. It didn’t work.

Tuesday's vote isn’t the end of the Mayorkas impeachment saga: Republicans say they’ll try again when they have full attendance. Even so, it was a high-profile setback for the new speaker that was compounded by the decision to immediately press forward with a vote on the Israel aid bill, which failed to garner the necessary two-thirds margin under suspension of the rules, 250-180.

Holding a failed vote in this case might have been politically defensible, to highlight Democrats’ opposition to the Israel funding. But that message got lost amid the botched impeachment narrative.

The problems for Johnson might only snowball from here. The Mayorkas vote is casting serious doubt on any effort to impeach President Joe Biden, which has been a top priority for the House GOP's MAGA wing. And, in about two weeks, Johnson will have to start muscling government funding bills across the floor — which is sure to exacerbate tensions with right-wingers.

Johnson, who emerged as speaker after the hard right revolted against predecessor Kevin McCarthy, has benefited in his first three months on the job from the sense that there’s no one else in the House GOP who could do any better than he has.

But if he has any more days like Tuesday, that idea might change fast.

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Posted in Uncategorized

CBP migrant encounters already exceed 1 million since October

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has tracked over 1 million migrant encounters since Oct. 1st, when fiscal year 2024 began, a CBP source told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, the earliest this mark has ever been reached.

The number is roughly 100,000 encounters higher than the same period last year, when the U.S. saw 908,000 encounters. This is the earliest the U.S. has ever reached the 1 million encounter mark, according to the CBP source.

The U.S. is also tracking a higher number of Chinese migrants crossing the border. Chinese illegal immigrants made up the fastest-growing group of border crossers last year, and fiscal year 2024 is on track to shatter that record.

The CBP encountered over 37,000 Chinese migrants last year, but they have already encountered nearly 20,000 since October. The CBP source says they have encountered roughly 150 Chinese migrants per day this fiscal year.

GOP SENATORS RALLY AGAINST BIPARTISAN BORDER DEAL, CITING BIDEN’S POWER TO SUSPEND ‘EMERGENCY’ BILL

The news comes just after a bipartisan immigration bill crashed and burned in Congress this week.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and other critics of the bill argued that it would "normalize" 5,000 border encounters each day.

MAYORKAS LASHES OUT AT ‘BASELESS’ GOP ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF KEY IMPEACHMENT VOTE

"That works out to 1.8 million a year. That works out to about 6 million illegal immigrants over the three years of Biden…. So the idiotic Republican proposal was let's be for two thirds of the border invasion that Biden has allowed," Cruz told Fox News on Tuesday.

The House of Representatives also failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a vote on Tuesday.

The House voted mostly along party lines, but Republicans suffered a number of defections that torpedoed the 216-214 vote. Four Republicans ultimately voted no: Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Ken Buck, R-Colo., Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Blake Moore, R-Utah, who switched his vote at the last minute in a procedural move to be able to bring the resolution back to the floor.

GOP LAWMAKER ON KEY IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE SLAMS MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT

Lawmakers voted on a resolution combining two articles of impeachment that accused Mayorkas of having "refused to comply with Federal immigration laws" and the other of having violated "public trust." A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached since 1876, when Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached.

Border crossings have set several records in recent months. December saw 302,000 migrant encounters alone, the highest total for a single month ever recorded. It was also the first time a monthly total had exceeded 300,000.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report

Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Citizen Trump loses in court, judges unanimous he is not above the law

Posted on by Greg Dworkin

ABC News:

Appeals court rejects Trump's immunity claim in federal election interference case

Trump had wanted the case dismissed based on his claim of "absolute immunity."

"We cannot accept former President Trump's claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power -- the recognition and implementation of election results," wrote the judges. "Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count."

"At bottom, former President Trump's stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the President beyond the reach of all three Branches," they wrote

Happy "no blanket presidential immunity" day for those who celebrate. As Joe Biden probably said to his staff, this is a BFD. Trump has until Monday to appeal.

See also SCOTUSBlog for a cert explainer, since that’s where this is headed.

PBS/NPR/Marist poll suggests the public agrees with the decision:

Trump should not get immunity, 2 out of 3 Americans say

About two-thirds of U.S. adults do not think former President Donald Trump should have immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while president, according to a PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll to be released Wednesday. The majority of Americans are aligned with a new federal appeals court ruling that found Trump can stand trial on charges tied to a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Yes. It was a complicated, multi-faceted issue that required thorough analysis, which is more likely to be allowed to stand by the Supreme Court than not. It also has important influence on proceedings in Georgia. A job well done is better than a job… done. https://t.co/4Ay1JmQrDG

— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) February 6, 2024

On the immigration issue, Catherine Rampell/Washington Post writes:

The GOP dog caught the car. Again.

Unlike the Obamacare repeal debacle, the passage of the Senate border bill would not be so terrible. I maintain serious concerns about its Title 42-like powers, as well as some other provisions relating to asylum. But much of the bill would make useful changes that should, theoretically, receive robust bipartisan support.

For example, it would invest much-needed resources in the border. It would give our Afghan allies — people who’ve already been vetted and are here in the United States but stuck in legal limbo — a pathway to permanent legal status. And for the first time, it would mandate that vulnerable, unaccompanied children seeking asylum receive legal counsel.

The White House and the bill’s Senate negotiators are now trying to defend it against myriad falsehoods about open borders and the like. But the burden of proving — or disproving — the merits of this hard-fought deal should be on the speaker: What, exactly, is Johnson’s objection to doing so many things his party ran for office to do?

Biden says if border bill fails, he'll remind American voters every day until the election that the reason the border isn't secure is because of Trump

— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) February 6, 2024

Michael Tomasky/The New Republic:

The GOP Owns the Border Now. Here’s How Democrats Make Sure of It.

Hard-right Republicans killed the Senate immigration deal out of fealty to Trump. That’s the perfect opening for Biden to go on the attack.

Last week, momentarily and evidently naïvely, I was actually impressed that some number of Republican senators, apparently a majority of them, was going to stand up to Trump and defy his wishes by voting for this bill. That was how it looked last Thursday. I almost devoted my newsletter last Friday to the topic, telling readers to take note of this moment, because it may signal a new willingness on the part of some prominent Republicans to stand up to Trump.

Some reflex deep inside me counseled that I might live to regret putting the words “Republicans” and “principles” in the same sentence. The angel on my shoulder knew better.

Passing a border bill would convey to MAGA voters that 1) the government can work, and be bipartisan; and 2) the “existential threat” is being dealt with. Both of these are Kryptonite for a would-be authoritarian: Trump needs his supporters to be disillusioned and afraid

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) February 6, 2024

Marc Jacob/”Stop the Presses” on Substack:

A dozen reasons Trump’s dictator threat is real

The short-attention-span media need to dwell on the danger

The news media aren’t talking enough about Donald Trump’s dictatorial ambitions. Sure, they quote his praise of despots and his dreams of “retribution,” but they need to make his stated intentions a major theme of campaign coverage.

In virtually every story about the campaign, they need to include at least a background sentence or two to remind people that he aims to be an autocrat if he wins. Repetition matters, as the right has long known and mainstream media often forget.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel resigning. Federal Appeals Court denies Donald Trump “immunity” for his role in January 6th. Republican majority House vote fails in attempt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas. Republican vote to provide aide to Israel fails. Yikes. What a day for the GOP.

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) February 7, 2024

Brian Beutler/Off Message:

The Mainstream Media Should Be Honest About Trump’s Border Sabotage

And Joe Biden should bully them into it

One of my first pieces for Off Message encouraged President Biden to (as we say in the business) “work the media refs” more consistently. Their doom-laden coverage of his Afghanistan withdrawal and the economy’s recovery from the pandemic left Americans badly misinformed and, relatedly, helped tank his public approval. A bit of grabbing the bull by the horns was thus in order and badly needed.

Well, it still is, and the House GOP’s seemingly successful effort to sabotage the Senate’s bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill presents another great opportunity: Everyone knows House Republicans took orders from Donald Trump, and Trump’s been quite clear that he wants to kill the Senate bill so that the border remains overwhelmed, and he can blame the disorder on Biden during the campaign.

But Trump’s self-interested angle on this bill is often omitted from or buried in news reports, when it’s really the whole story. And unless this pattern of subterfuge is widely understood, Trump’s plan could work

Back-to-back embarrassing failures for House GOP leadership tonight • Mayorkas impeachment vote fails — of the various impeachments they’re eying, he was seen as the easiest • Israel aid bill, facing bipartisan opposition, flops after leadership tried to fast-track it

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 7, 2024

The House Republican Conference faceplanted tonight. Even if they take up impeaching Mayorkas tomorrow, they will have this humiliation. It also makes impeaching Joe Biden even less likely. via @independent https://t.co/EVxyjPAZFh

— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) February 7, 2024

And now for a musical interlude...

Jonathan Weiler/”Jonathan’s Quality Kvetching Newsletter” on Substack:

Why has Taylor Swift driven the rightwing crazy on the eve of the Super Bowl? A modest proposal :)

Enter Taylor Swift. For a quick refresher, she began dating KC tight end, Travis Kelce, during the 2023 season. Kelce is Mahomes’ favorite receiving target and is widely regarded as one of the best pass catching tight ends of all time, a key cog in the Chiefs’ two Super Bowl victories in the past four seasons. All of this was true and uncontroversial before last fall. But once his relationship with the planet's biggest pop star became public, and that pop star began regularly attending Kansas City games, the hype machines around both Swift and the NFL kicked into overdrive.1

That was a source of deep resentment for rightwing media even before last week. Swift has been a bane on the right for years now, especially since she endorsed Joe Biden in 2020. And Kelce has served as a pitchman for Pfizer's Covid vaccine which, you know….

John Fugelsang/X via Threadreader on the heels of Tracy Chapman’s Grammy duet with Luke Combs:

I can name TONS of great Tracy Chapman songs. (a somewhat outraged thread) (1) -"Baby Can I Hold You" was covered by everybody from Pavarotti to George Michael to Neil Diamond to Nicki Minaj -Clapton covered "Gimme One Reason" -Neil Young played on Tracy Chapman's 2nd album

Do we induct people into the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame because of their sexuality? I thought it was about the music they produced. Can you name three Tracy Chapman songs? If you do… You googled it.

— Bill Miller (@MelaninDeficien) February 6, 2024

Read the whole thread, or just watch this:

YouTube Video

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to why Rep. Blake Moore flipped from Yea to Nay on impeaching Mayorkas

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

There were four Republicans who voted no tonight against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and House Vice Conference Chairman Blake Moore (R-Utah) – a member of the Republican leadership.

But Moore’s "nay" vote against impeaching Mayorkas deserves an asterisk. He’s not really against impeaching Mayorkas. Moore voted no so the Republican effort to impeach Mayorkas could live to fight another day.

FOUR HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTE AGAINST IMPEACHMENT OF ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS

To wit: 

Moore was on the board as a yea in favor of impeaching Mayorkas. But the GOP miscalculated how many yea votes that they had – as well as how many Democrats present and available to vote no.

The current breakdown in the 431 member House is 219 Republicans to 212 Democrats with four vacancies.

Republicans can only lose three votes. But that’s if all of their members are present. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) has not voted all year due to cancer treatments. Scalise tells FOX he will be back soon.

So as soon as the Mayorkas impeachment vote went to 215-215, the gig was up for impeaching Mayorkas.

At least on Tuesday night.

By rule, a tie vote loses in the House. So the Mayorkas impeachment effort was going down to defeat.

Only on one occasion before has the House ever defeated articles of impeachment. In December 1997, the House only adopted two of the articles of impeachment leveled against former President Clinton.

WHY DID THE HOUSE FAIL TO IMPEACH MAYORKAS?

So what were Republicans to do in order to salvage their impeachment gambit?

House rules enable any member on the PREVAILING side of a roll call vote (in this instance, the NAYS) to "move to reconsider" a vote. In other words, demand a re-vote.

Moore was a yea – but on the losing side. Gallagher, McClintock and Buck certainly weren’t going to move to order a re-vote. So, it fell to a member of the House GOP brass.

Moore changed his vote to no. Not because he opposes impeaching Mayorkas. But now he was on the "winning" side." This preserved the option for House Republicans to summon the vote again. Perhaps when Scalise is back. Or if Republicans win the special election on Long Island next week. The GOP hopes that Republican nominee Mazi Melesa Pilip defeats former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) for the seat vacated by expelled former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). Then Republicans might have some reinforcements to impeach…

Of course, that presumes that other Republicans aren’t absent that day.

As I always say, YOU try to get more than 400 people in the same room at the same time. Members are always away for random reasons. Illness. Family commitments. Funerals. Events in the district. You name it. 

TOP REPUBLICAN SAYS DEMS 'WILL ANSWER' AT BALLOT BOX FOR NOT BACKING MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT

Of course, impeachment resolutions are "privileged." That means any member could just put forth an impeachment plan again right away and the House would have to take it up. But by preserving the impeachment investigation, committee report and other documents, the maneuver by Moore enables the Republican leadership to preserve the impeachment gambit launched by the Homeland Security Committee – and try again. Maintaining that more exhaustive impeachment plan will also give the GOP more credibility if and when they present their impeachment articles to the Senate for a possible trial.

Moreover, having a key member change their vote to potentially order a re-vote in the House is rare. It happens with some degree of regularity in the Senate. Over the years Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would often be compelled to change their votes from yes to no – in order to call for a re-vote on a failed issue. 

Moore’s effort was not unprecedented in the House. But something seen more often across the Capitol dome in the Senate.

Mayorkas survives impeachment vote

Posted on by Politics - CBSNews.com
In a 216-214 vote, House Republicans failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a move Democrats had decried as a political stunt. Meanwhile, the Senate's bipartisan immigration deal appears to be crumbling. Scott MacFarlane has the latest.
Posted in Uncategorized

House GOP’s unprecedented stunt to impeach Mayorkas fails

Posted on by Joan McCarter

In a stunning collapse, House Republicans failed Tuesday to approve the impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with four Republicans voting against it. Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Blake Moore of Utah—who switched his vote at the last minute to be able to bring it to a vote again—joined Democrats to defeat the resolution.

One of those Republicans had an all-too rare moment of honesty in this debate, with McClintock calling the impeachment what it was: a “stunt.” 

YouTube Video

“Cabinet secretaries can't serve two masters. They can be impeached for committing a crime related to their office but not for carrying out presidential policy,” McClintock said Tuesday on the floor, adding that this issue is one that needs to be decided at the ballot box in November. “I'm afraid that stunts like this don't help."

How much of a stunt is it? Republicans have tacitly admitted that the move has been purely political from the beginning, driven as it was by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. In fact, Greene is so instrumental to this impeachment push that prior to the vote, it was reported that she had been tapped to be an impeachment manager in the Senate, presenting the supposed case to the chamber. 

It’s also nearly unprecedented. The House hasn’t attempted to impeach a Cabinet member since 1876. But what’s more unprecedented is the House leadership advancing such an historic vote when the outcome was uncertain. Democratic Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi would never have dreamed of bringing a vote of this magnitude to the floor without knowing she had the votes to get it done—nor would former GOP Speakers Paul Ryan or John Boehner have done so, for that matter.

Instead, newbie Speaker Mike Johnson played to his MAGA base. “There is no other measure for Congress to take but this one,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday, ahead of the vote. “It’s an extreme measure, but extreme times call for extreme measures.”

RELATED STORIES:

Republicans got exactly what they wanted. Now they’re trying to kill it

Watch: Republicans slammed for 'debasing and demeaning' the Constitution

Republicans admit impeaching Mayorkas is all politics

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House fails to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in major blow to GOP

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

The Republican-led House of Representatives on Tuesday failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the crisis at the southern border – marking a major blow for House Republicans who have pushed for Mayorkas' removal.

The House voted mostly along party lines, but Republicans suffered a number of defections that torpedoed the vote. Four Republicans ultimately voted no: Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Ken Buck, R-Colo., Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Blake Moore, R-Utah, who switched his vote at the last minute in a procedural move to be able to bring the resolution back to the floor.

But Democrats remained united. The vote was 216-214. Lawmakers voted on a resolution combining two articles of impeachment that accused Mayorkas of having "refused to comply with Federal immigration laws" and the other of having violated "public trust." A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached since 1876, when Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached.

GOP LAWMAKER ON KEY IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE SLAMS MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT

The move is a crushing defeat for the Republican majority, which held hearings throughout 2023 on Mayorkas' "dereliction of duty" and additional hearings on the impeachment articles themselves earlier this year. Lawmakers accused Mayorkas of disregarding federal law with "open border policies" that have made the ongoing crisis at the southern border worse. They have pointed to the rolling back of Trump-era policies, like border wall construction and "Remain in Mexico," and reducing interior enforcement and expanding "catch-and-release." They say it has fueled record numbers at the southern border, breaching the 300,000 mark in December.

"Under Secretary Mayorkas’ watch, Customs and Border Protection has reported more than 8.5 million encounters at our borders, including more than 7 million apprehensions at the southwest border," Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said on the House floor. "Even more terrifying is the approximately 1.8 million known gotaways that Border Patrol agents detect but are unable to apprehend. Millions of those inadmissible aliens who are encountered are eventually released into our communities. This has never happened before in our history. And it doesn’t happen by accident."

Green said Republicans had been left with "no other option" than to proceed.

"We, the people's representatives, have no opinion, no option but to exercise this duty when branch officials blatantly refuse to comply with the laws we have passed threaten the separation of powers, imperiled the constitutional order, and expose Americans to untold suffering and death," he said.

Democrats and the administration have painted the impeachment push as politically motivated on nothing more than policy disagreements, and nothing that approaches high crimes and misdemeanors.

"Far from alleging high crimes and misdemeanors, this resolution relies on the same tired and untrue Republican talking points that Democrats have demonstrated for months are not true," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., called the push a "travesty" and an "affront to the Constitution."

"Rather than doing what's right for America because it's clear that Republicans have failed to make the case for impeachment. They have failed to articulate a single high crime and misdemeanor. The other side of the aisle reeks of desperation," he said.

Mayorkas himself has attacked the push against him, calling the allegations "false" and "baseless."

MAYORKAS LASHES OUT AT ‘BASELESS’ GOP ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF KEY IMPEACHMENT VOTE

"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 said.

DHS has pointed to more than 500,000 removals since May and record seizures of fentanyl at the border to counteract claims that it has pursued open border policies. It has also called on Republicans to provide more funding and to work with the administration to fix a "broken" immigration system. It had highlighted Republicans and former DHS officials who have opposed the impeachment effort.

"This baseless impeachment should never have moved forward; it faces bipartisan opposition and legal experts resoundingly say it is unconstitutional," DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said after the vote on Tuesday. "If House Republicans are serious about border security, they should abandon these political games and instead support the bipartisan national security agreement in the Senate to get DHS the enforcement resources we need."

"Secretary Mayorkas remains focused on working across the aisle to promote real solutions at the border and keep our country safe," she said.

Democrats, meanwhile, were gleeful at the defeat for the majority.

"House Republicans just tried to impeach Secretary Mayorkas purely as a political stunt: AND THEY FAILED," Jayapal said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "As they keep wasting their time in the majority, Democrats will continue working for the American people."

However, at least one Republican suggested the fight might not be over.

"I will not STOP until Secretary Mayorkas is IMPEACHED," Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, posted. "House Republicans will hold the administration accountable, no matter how many votes it takes!"

Top Republican says Dems ‘will answer’ at ballot box for not backing Mayorkas impeachment

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House Majority Whip Tom Emmer on Tuesday predicted Democrats will pay at the ballot box for failing to back the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ahead of a vote on impeachment articles later in the evening.

"I think the Democrats are making a mistake once again, especially some of the folks in South Texas, some of the people in New York and other states where immigration has become a huge issue, Illegal immigration. I think they're making a mistake by not supporting this. And they will answer for that at the ballot box," he said.

Emmer spoke to Fox News Digital ahead of votes on two articles of impeachment which accuse Mayorkas of having "repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security" and of having "made false statements to Congress" that the border is secure and closed and that DHS is in operational control of the border. 

GOP LAWMAKER ON KEY IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE SLAMS MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT ‘FANTASY’ 

The vote is expected to go mostly along party lines, but Republicans have so far seen two lawmakers announce they will be voting against the articles. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., issued a scathing statement against the articles earlier Tuesday, while Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., is also expected to vote against the legislation. The House majority is slim and Republicans can only afford three defections if all lawmakers are present and all Democrats vote against impeachment.

Emmer says he doesn’t share whip counts with anybody, but rejected criticism that Republicans were impeaching Mayorkas over policy differences and said that the House will "perform our constitutional obligation tonight."

"This literally is about somebody who has willfully, willfully, and systematically, created an agency's ability to subvert our laws. They are literally violating our laws," he said.

HOUSE TEES UP VOTE ON IMPEACHING MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS 

Republicans have accused Mayorkas and the administration of fueling the crisis with "open border" policies including "catch-and-release," reduced interior enforcement and the rolling back of Trump-era policies they believe helped secure the border. Mayorkas has denied those claims even amid record numbers at the border, and found support from Democrats and some former DHS officials among others. Former Bush-era DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff recently called on Republicans to "drop this impeachment charade" and work with Mayorkas to solve the crisis.

Mayorkas himself defended himself against impeachment last week in a letter to Republicans, in which he slammed the allegations as "false" and "baseless" and called on Congress to reform a broken system and provide more funding.

"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 said.

Should Mayorkas be impeached it’ll be the first such impeachment of a cabinet secretary since the 1800s.

"This vote is appropriate because of the individual who has purposely, willfully violated the law, and refused to do his job," Emmer told Fox. "I think that's one, but two, it's also the only thing we can do at this point. It's the only tool we're left with. Because, we have got a White House that refuses to do anything, and we have one-half of one-third of government."

MAYORKAS LASHES OUT AT ‘BASELESS’ GOP ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF KEY IMPEACHMENT VOTE

Meanwhile, in the upper chamber, a Senate border deal announced this week has faced significant opposition in the House -- but looks like it won’t even make the chamber amid massive opposition in the Senate as well.

Emmer said he was not surprised at the bill's struggles, and took aim at the inclusions in the package -- including the emergency border authority that would kick in to allow expulsions if there was a 7-day average of over 5,000 encounters a day.

"Five thousand a day before you have shutdown authority? One coming across the southern border is too many at this point and that just wasn't going to fly," he said. "I think the rumors we heard turned out to be true and worse. In effect, that bill is codified catch and release…it's making into law the very law that Mayorkas is violating."

"I think once the senators saw the text filing and read it, they realized how bad this was and this is not where the American people are. They're going to side with the American people instead of this lawlessness that we're seeing out of the Biden administration," he said.

Emmer stressed that a deal should deal with five issues he believes the House package dealt with: Restoring the Trump-era Remain-in-Mexico policy; reforming the broad use of humanitarian parole; restricting asylum laws; ending "catch-and-release"; and finishing the construction of a wall at the southern border.

"You've got to address those five things that are in H.R. 2. You have to have all well, maybe you can't get them all because we only have one-half of one-third of our federal government. But at a minimum, you should be restoring of remain in Mexico and you should be ending catch and release," he said.

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.