The Republican Party’s evidence-less investigation of Hunter Biden’s business affairs continues to reveal … nothing new or criminal on the part of President Joe Biden. Rep. Andy Biggs is on the Republican Hunter Biden fishing expedition committee, which is chaired by Rep. James Comer. Biggs went on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” to discuss all of the nothing he has been able to find on Joe and Hunter Biden.
Biggs tells Dobbs that while they think Hunter Biden is guilty of something, they clearly do not have enough evidence to do anything legal about it. Dobbs, whose painting of Howdy Doody in the attic must look ancient by now, seems pretty fed up with it all.
Congressman, I have to say to you, it sounds to me like we're right where we were six months ago. It really does. I don't see any advancement in this, and a progress toward incriminating evidence for the president. I mean, what we're talking about is a stasis. It's as if everything is frozen right there in time, waiting for either contradiction, invalidation of these statements by people, that I think everyone would assume common sense tells you that they're lying through their teeth and trying to protect someone. But that's insufficient.
It’s hard to argue against the fact that every witness Comer and others have claimed would provide the smoking gun evidence against President Joe Biden has fallen flat or had it blow up in their faces. In fact, these witnesses have ended up supporting the idea that Biden didn’t do anything wrong in regards to supporting his wayward son.
Oversight Democrats, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, have continued to point out that real issues of oversight remain untouched by the Republican-led committees in the House. Issues like the catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last year. GOP leaders like Donald Trump were quick to blame Joe Biden and fundraise a lot of cash on the tragedy, but were unwilling to lift a finger to investigate what could be done to mitigate such disasters in the future.
Republicans and their propaganda outlets have been screeching about how much of a crisis there is on the border, and how badly we need security. Instead of working out a deal, House Republicans begin a constitutionally dubious impeachment stunt against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Then when Senate Democrats worked out a deal with Senate Republicans—a deal that is in no way progressive but might at least help fulfill some of our promised foreign aid obligations—Republicans turned around and tried to kill it.
The Republican Party is a depressingly dangerous political theater troupe at this point. The only thing they seem able to do now is demand action, create committee witch hunts, and when Democratic lawmakers and Joe Biden call them on their bluster, become impotently angry. Whether Dobbs’ seeming exhaustion is indicative of a meaningful trend among any of the people who still pay attention to him remains to be seen.
Campaign ActionIt is primary season, and Donald Trump seems pretty low energy these days. Kerry and Markos talk about the chances of Trump stumbling through the election season and the need to press our advantage and make gains in the House and Senate. Meanwhile, the right-wing media world is losing its collective minds about Taylor Swift registering younger Americans to vote!
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday repeatedly blamed Republicans after the collapse of a bipartisan deal that paired border policy changes with billions in wartime aid for Ukraine.
Throughout the press conference, Jean-Pierre accused the GOP of playing games with national security and not having a spine for supporting the deal. She said President Biden, in contrast, had taken the border issue seriously "from day one."
"He said, ‘I’m going to put forward a legislation,' a comprehensive immigration legislation that was introduced more than three years ago … and [Republicans]," have failed to act, Jean-Pierre said when asked if President Biden bore some responsibility for the collapsed deal.
Later on, Fox News’ Peter Doocy pressed Jean-Pierre on the matter.
"So, you guys talk a lot – including today – about how the border wouldn’t be such a big deal if Congress would have just passed your immigration bill on day one," Doocy asked. "Who was in charge of Congress on day one?"
SEN. ROGER MARSHALL DEMANDS SOUTHERN BORDER CRISIS BE CLASSIFIED AS ‘AN INVASION’
Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration has called on Congress to act since Biden took office more than three years ago, but Republicans "have gotten in the way" of trying to fix the border by using the immigration crisis as a political stunt.
When President Biden took office, Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. Republicans took back the House by a slim majority in the 2022 midterm elections.
After taking office, Biden signed two executive orders on immigration and pledged to roll back many of the policies put in place by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Within a few months, Biden took more than 90 actions related to the border.
Under the president’s stewardship, illegal immigration has skyrocketed to historic levels. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report for fiscal 2023 showed that the number of illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket soared from 3.7 million in FY 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in FY 2022 to nearly 6.2 million in FY 2023.
HOUSE CLEARS WAY TO ADVANCE IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES OF DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS
The number of illegal immigrants being deported has increased, according to the report, but it is still a fraction of the increase in the illegal immigrant population. There were 142,580 removals in FY 23, up considerably from 72,177 in FY 22 and 59,011 in FY 21, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in FY 19.
With the 2024 election looming, Biden has for months engaged in a plan to pair policies intended to curb illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border with $60 billion in wartime aid for Ukraine. The bill would have also sent tens of billions of dollars more for Israel, other U.S. allies in Asia, the U.S. immigration system and humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza and Ukraine.
But after Republicans backed away from the compromise, the president and Senate leaders are now stranded with no clear way to advance aid for Ukraine through Congress. They have run into a wall of opposition from conservatives — led by Trump — who reject the border proposal as insufficient and criticize the Ukraine funding as wasteful.
Biden laid the blame for the bill's demise squarely on Trump — his presumed Republican opponent in the November presidential election.
"For the last 24 hours he's done nothing, I'm told, but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate and threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal," Biden said. "It looks like they're caving. Frankly, they owe it to the American people to show some spine and do what they know to be right."
Meanwhile, House lawmakers have cleared the way to advance an impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, for alleging "refusing to enforce our nation's laws."
"An architect of destruction at our southern border, the secretary has caused serious injury to society, as the Founding Fathers discussed," Rep. McCaul, R-Texas, said in a statement.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Congressional lawmakers weighed in on whether Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has positively or negatively influenced border security ahead of the House's vote on his impeachment.
"I think that he’s violated the law on purpose," Rep. Matt Gaetz told Fox News. "I think he deserves impeachment for that."
WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE
But Rep. Lloyd Doggett called the impeachment case against Mayorkas "appalling."
"I think certainly one could look back on this time and recognize there are improvements that could have been made, but the idea of impeaching him under these circumstances at the very time he’s trying to develop a bipartisan agreement is appalling," the Texas Democrat said.
The Republican-led House Rules Committee voted 8-4 on Monday to send an impeachment case against Mayorkas to the full chamber for a vote. The two impeachment articles accuse Mayorkas of refusing to comply with federal immigration laws and violating the public's trust.
‘HE’S DELUSIONAL': BIDEN'S BORDER COMMENTS SPARK STIFF REBUKE ON CAPITOL HILL FROM SOME LAWMAKERS
The full chamber passed a motion for debate on Mayorkas' impeachment 216-209 Tuesday. A second series of votes will follow the debate. If the impeachment resolution passes, it will head to the Democrat-led Senate, where it's expected to fail.
"Mayorkas has not done his job," Rep. Doug LaMalfa said. "He can at least be fighting back, or he can resign the position if he feels the job he’s supposed to do isn’t being done or isn’t being allowed to be done."
"He’s not done his constitutional duty," the California Republican said. "It’s not a matter of incompetence. It’s a matter of willful ignorance."
BIDEN CLAIMS 'I'VE DONE ALL I CAN DO' TO SECURE THE BORDER
The vote came on the heels of the Senate's long-awaited bipartisan border security deal being revealed on Sunday, which sparked fierce condemnation from some House Republicans. Among other criticisms, House leaders said in a Monday statement that the bill would give too much authority to Mayorkas, who "has proven he will exploit every measure possible, in defiance of the law, to keep the border open."
Mayorkas has been "forcibly making the border wide open and endangering the American people," Rep. Chip Roy told Fox News.
There were over 2.4 million migrant encounters during fiscal 2023, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection data. In December, they reached a record-high of 302,000.
I’m "disappointed from some of what I’ve seen from [Mayorkas], but I think that disagreement in terms of job performance is not an impeachable offense," Rep. Chris Pappas, a New Hampshire Democrat, said. "We should be giving him the tools he needs to do the job."
Constitutional scholars have criticized the impeachment push against Mayorkas. Alan Dershowitz, for example, called the charges against the Homeland Security secretary "vague," while Jonathan Turley said there's no "cognizable basis" for impeachment.
Pappas said Congress needs to step up to enact change at the southern border.
"We’ve got to have some order at the border," he said. "We also need greater investments. That’s where Congress comes in. We need to be a partner here."
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail.
What's Happening?
- Senate Republicans vow to block bipartisan border bill
- Court rejects Trump's immunity on Jan. 6 charges
- Nevada primary election underway
After weeks of negotiations, the Senate's much ballyhooed bipartisan border deal landed with a thunk.
Conservatives in the House and Senate have come out against the deal, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell didn't sound optimistic about the bill becoming law.
"I think in the end, even though the product is approved by the the border council that adores President Trump, most of our members feel that we're not going to be able to make a law here, and if we're not going to be able to make a law, they're reluctant to go forward," McConnell said Tuesday. The border bill was tied to aide to Ukraine and other priorities that McConnell and Schumer would have to find another way to pass.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the border deal fiasco might mean it's time for McConnell himself to step down as leader.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed that he didn't know President Biden would start describing the border situation as a "crisis," according to reports.
"I will tell you that I am not focused on the words one uses," Mayorkas told the Washington Post. "I am focused on what we need to do. That is my focus. It is a very serious challenge. And we are focused on it every single day."
The House is moving forward with a vote to impeach Mayorkas.
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House lawmakers on Tuesday cleared the way to advance an impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The 215-207 floor vote came as the House adopted the "rule" to manage the debate on the measure.
The resolution affirms that Mayorkas "has willfully and systematically refused to comply with Federal immigration laws" by having repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security during his tenure.
If the vote goes through, Mayorkas would be the first Biden Cabinet official impeached in nearly 150 years.
This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.
The House is scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon on impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, but the outcome isn’t at all assured. It’s a numbers game for Republican leadership, with two party members publicly opposing impeachment and a handful undecided. The very slim majority of Republicans means that leadership can likely lose only three of their members and pass the impeachment resolution.
The latest Republican “no” vote comes from Rep. Tom McClintock of California, who announced his opposition Tuesday morning. “Do Republicans really wish to establish an expansive view of impeachment that will surely be turned against conservatives on the Supreme Court or a future Republican president if Congress changes hands?” McClintock wrote in his statement. He joined Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, who was the first Republican to publicly say he’d vote against impeachment.
In addition to McClintock and Buck, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin voiced his reservations in a conference meeting Tuesday morning, saying that this would lower the standard for impeachment. And there are at least three Republicans who have publicly declared they are undecided: Reps. David Joyce of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, the former speaker pro tempore.
The Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green of Tennessee apparently didn’t make a compelling case for the principles of impeaching Mayorkas during that Tuesday morning meeting, instead attacking Mayorkas personally, calling him, “a reptile with no balls” because he refused to resign. That’s hardly a principled argument for high crimes and misdemeanors.
This impeachment is purely political and entirely baseless, and most Republicans know it. Also this:
That helps Democrats make the case against it, pointing out that impeachment is no solution to what Republicans like to call the border crisis, and that it’s purely a political distraction. Here’s a statement from President Joe Biden’s administration:
Impeaching Secretary Mayorkas would be an unprecedented and unconstitutional act of political retribution that would do nothing to solve the challenges our Nation faces in securing the border. [...]The impeachment power was never intended as a device for members of an opposing political party to harass Executive Branch officials over policy disputes. [...]
Impeaching Secretary Mayorkas would trivialize this solemn constitutional power and invite more partisan abuse of this authority in the future.
It’s as likely as not that all but three Republicans fall into line with their MAGA counterparts and move ahead with this baseless impeachment—one that’s sure to be buried by the Senate. This is yet another test of principle for Republicans, and one that the majority will gleefully fail.
RELATED STORIES:
House Democrats come hard at GOP in Mayorkas impeachment hearing
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Republicans would rather campaign on the border crisis than solve it
Campaign ActionA House Republican on a key immigration subcommittee announced Tuesday that he will vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, dealing a significant blow to GOP efforts to impeach the Biden official ahead of a vote expected later in the day.
"The only way to stop the border invasion is to replace the Biden administration at the ballot box. Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans," Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., who heads the Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Later on the House floor, he called it a "stunt."
HOUSE TEES UP VOTE ON IMPEACHING MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS
The House is expected to vote later 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.
McClintock’s "no" joins that of Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo. Fox News Digital is also told that Rep, Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., also raised concerns about impeaching Mayorkas at a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference. The House majority is slim and Republicans can only afford three defections if all lawmakers are present and all Democrats vote against impeachment.
Should the impeachment push fail, it would signify an enormous blow to House Republicans who spent much of 2023 investigating Mayorkas for his handling of the crisis at the southern border, before referring articles to the House Homeland Security Committee late last year.
The committee advanced the two articles last week. If Mayorkas is impeached, then it will go to the Senate for a trial.
Speaker Mike Johnson said that he had spoken to McClintock and Buck about their objections to the move to impeach the Cabinet Secretary -- which would make it the first impeachment since 1876.
MAYORKAS LASHES OUT AT ‘BASELESS’ GOP ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF KEY IMPEACHMENT VOTE
" I respect everybody's view. I understand the heavy weight that impeachment is…next to the declaration of war, I believe impeachment is probably the heaviest authority that the House has given in the Constitution," he said. "We carry that weight very carefully. What I will say about this Mayorkas impeachment is that the Homeland Security Committee has done an extraordinary job, a very deliberate job as you know over a long period of time.
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. They also accuse Mayorkas of not following immigration law, which they say demands the detention of illegal immigrants, and of failing to secure the border. Mayorkas has vigorously denied those claims.
"The constitutional case and evidence for impeaching Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is strong and compelling," Committee Chair Mark Green said in an op-ed for The Washington Examiner this week. "My committee’s nearly year-long investigation identified Secretary Mayorkas’ willful and systemic refusal to comply with U.S. immigration laws and his breach of the public trust as the primary drivers of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders."
But the process has come under fire from the Department of Homeland Security, as well as House Democrats and some Republicans. They see a pre-determined politically motivated push for impeachment based on policy disagreements rather than high crimes and misdemeanors, and the Biden administration has instead pointed to efforts made to secure the border by Mayorkas -- including his role in a bipartisan Senate deal released this week. They have also pointed to more than 500,000 removals since May and record seizures of fentanyl at the border.
"House Republicans have failed to provide any legitimate Constitutional grounds for impeachment according to countless legal experts of diverse political views, House Republicans’ own prior impeachment witness, and their fellow GOP Members," DHS officials said in a recent memo.
Mayorkas himself defended himself against impeachment last week in a letter to Republicans, in which he slammed the allegations as "false" and "baseless."
"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.
Other voices against the impeachment of Mayorkas include Jonathan Turley, who was a witness for the House majority earlier this year, and Alan Dershowitz, who was former President Trump’s defense lawyer during the first impeachment effort against him. Former Bush-era DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff recently called on Republicans to "drop this impeachment charade" and work with Mayorkas to solve the crisis.