Today, MAGA House Republicans plan to vote on the floor on the baseless impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas. To set off the day, another one of their own, Rep. Tom McClintock, wrote a lengthy letter announcing that he opposes impeaching Secretary Mayorkas, making him the second Republican to publicly reject the effort. This impeachment stunt is nothing but a preplanned, predetermined game of politics. Want proof? MAGA Republicans like the Homeland Security Committee chair have been promising donors that they would impeach the Secretary since April 2023. MAGA House Republicans are doing nothing but Donald Trump’s bidding, pursuing baseless impeachment stunts and killing the bipartisan border deal to hurt President Biden ahead of the 2024 election and help their disgraced former President return to the White House. They are ignoring the priorities of Americans across the country, not accomplishing any legislation on things that actually matter.
Sacramento Bee: Tom McClintock, a Final GOP Holdout On Impeaching Homeland Security Secretary, To Vote No. “Rep. Tom McClintock will be one of at least two Republicans bucking party by voting against the impeachment of President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary over his handling of the southern border. ‘The only way to stop the border invasion is to replace the Biden administration at the ballot box,’ McClintock wrote on social media Tuesday. ‘Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans.’ He wrote a 10-page memo released Tuesday against impeaching Mayorkas. […] Previously, McClintock blasted the impeachment effort as based on policy disagreements.” [Sacramento Bee, 2/6/24]
HuffPost: ‘In Peril’: The GOP’s Plan To Impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas May Flop. “House Republican leaders may not have the votes to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, hours before they are set to move forward with their stunt. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he opposes impeaching Mayorkas, making him the second Republican to publicly reject the effort. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) announced his opposition last week. Party leaders can only afford to lose a total of three votes, assuming every GOP member is present and voting yes. […] For all the GOP’s criticisms of President Joe Biden’s border policies, the problem with going after Mayorkas is that Republicans ‘fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed,’ McClintock said. ‘In effect, they stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law.’ The California Republican’s opposition echoed Buck’s previous complaints about the effort. ‘It’s maladministration. He’s terrible. The border is a disaster,’ the Colorado Republican told reporters last Thursday. ‘But that’s not impeachable.’” [HuffPost, 2/6/24]
Axios: House Republican Slams GOP’s “Delusional” Mayorkas Impeachment. “Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) came out swinging on Tuesday against the impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. Why it matters: McClintock’s position means Republicans are down another vote as they try to impeach Mayorkas with a razor-thin House majority. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) is also opposed, with several other Republicans undecided. The Democrat-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to convict Mayorkas even if the impeachment does proceed. What he’s saying: McClintock wrote in a 10-page memo that the articles of impeachment drafted by the Homeland Security Committee ‘fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed.’ ‘In effect, they stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law,’ he added. McClintock also argued that it is ‘delusional to believe the Senate will vote to remove Mayorkas on the grounds laid out’ in the articles, saying it will ‘at best be a party-line vote.’ ‘More likely, it will be a bi-partisan repudiation of a misuse of power,’ he said — a reference to Senate Republicans who have criticized the House’s case for impeachment.” [Axios, 2/6/24]
Politico: Mayorkas Impeachment Down To The Wire As Another Republican Plans To Vote ‘No’. “Rep. Tom McClintock said on Tuesday that he will oppose impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — meaning Republicans have literally no room for error. If Democrats have full attendance, House GOP leaders can’t afford to have any additional absences or lose a single other GOP vote… ‘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.” [Politico, 2/6/24]
The Hill: Second GOP Rep Says He’ll Vote Against Mayorkas Impeachment. “Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he would vote against a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, becoming the second Republican to buck the party and putting GOP plans in jeopardy. In a 10-page memo, McClintock offered criticism of Mayorkas but said his party had failed to identify an impeachable crime. ‘Clearly the founders worried that the power of impeachment could be used to settle political disputes and so searched for limiting language to avoid such abuse,’ McClintock wrote, writing his colleagues had failed to demonstrate any high crime or misdemeanor. Assuming full attendance, Republicans can only lose three votes to pass its impeachment resolution. But with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) absent due to treatment for blood cancer, that number dwindles to just two if all other members are present, leaving no more room for GOP defections. The House is slated to vote on impeachment Tuesday evening.” [The Hill, 2/6/24]
The New York Times: Republican-Led House to Vote on Impeaching Mayorkas Over Border. “With Democrats solidly opposed to the impeachment effort and expected Republican absences, Republicans cannot afford to lose more than two of their members on the vote. Representative Tom McClintock, Republican of California, announced hours before the planned vote that he would vote no, joining Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, who had already vowed to break with his party on the matter. ‘They fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed,’ Mr. McClintock said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday rejecting the impeachment effort. He added, ‘It assigns blame for the border debacle to one man acting on the orders of President Biden.’ A handful of other Republicans who have expressed similar concerns have yet to declare how they will vote.” [New York Times, 2/6/24]
Forbes: House GOP Could Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas Today—Here Are The Allegations Against Him. “Republicans can afford to lose only three votes to pass the resolution under their slim majority in the House, assuming all Democrats vote against it. At least two GOP members, Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), have vowed to oppose the measure, with Buck declaring that ‘incompetence is not constitutional grounds for impeachment.’ McClintock, in a memo announcing his decision, suggesting Mayorkas is simply following the president’s orders and asking ‘how can he be impeached for not doing his job because he is doing it?’ If the House does vote to formally impeach Mayorkas, the effort would almost certainly fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is responsible for conducting impeachment trials.” [Forbes, 2/6/24]
CBS News: House Set To Vote On Impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas Today. “Two Republicans have said they oppose the impeachment effort, meaning just one more GOP lawmaker could sink the vote if all members are in attendance. Rep. Tom McClintock of California said Tuesday morning that he opposes impeaching Mayorkas. ‘[The impeachment articles] fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed,’ he said in a statement. ‘In effect, they stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law.’ McClintock joined Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, who has said that ‘there’s no impeachable offense.’” [CBS News, 2/6/24]
CNN: House Set To Vote To Impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday. “House Republicans claim Mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors for his handling of the southern border, even though several constitutional experts have said the evidence does not reach that high bar… The impeachment effort comes as House Republicans have faced building pressure from their base to hold the Biden administration accountable on a key campaign issue: the border. But Republicans can only lose three votes in their razor-thin majority if all lawmakers are present, and a handful of lawmakers have not indicated how they plan to vote. GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado announced in an op-ed that he would not vote to impeach Mayorkas. GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California wrote on X on Tuesday he also will vote against impeaching the DHS secretary.” [CNN, 2/6/24]
ABC News: House Republicans Are Ready To Impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. Vote Will Be Close. “It’s not at all clear that Johnson, with one of the smallest House majorities in modern times, has the support of almost all Republicans needed to impeach Mayorkas. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Ca., announced his opposition Tuesday saying the charges ‘fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed.’ The conservative McClintock said in a lengthy memo that the articles of impeachment from the committee explain the problems at the border under Biden’s watch. But he said, ‘they stretch and distort the Constitution.’ Another Republican, retiring Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, has also said he is against impeaching Mayorkas. A few other Republicans, who voted to shelve the issue in fall, have yet to announce their votes. Impeachment, once rare in the U.S., has been used as both a constitutional check on the executive and increasingly as a political weapon. …Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley said impeachment is not to be used for being ‘a bad Cabinet member.’ Lawyer Alan Dershowitz wrote, ‘Whatever else Mayorkas may or may not have done, he has not committed bribery, treason, or high crimes and misdemeanors.’” [ABC News, 2/6/24]
The Washington Examiner: House Republicans Plow Ahead With Mayorkas Impeachment With Little Room For Error. “That means the magic number to approve the impeachment is 216 “yes” votes, giving Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) a three-vote majority — but only if all members are present… Meanwhile, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) has come out as a firm “no” on impeachment, bringing Republicans’ margin down to just two votes. Any more than that, and the resolution will fail to advance through the lower chamber. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) also telegraphed a “no” vote on Tuesday.” [Washington Examiner, 2/6/24]
Devdiscourse: Republican McClintock: Mayorkas Probe ‘Fails To Identify Impeachable Crime’. “Republican U.S. Representative Tom McClintock said on Tuesday that an impeachment probe into President Joe Biden’s top border official Alejandro Mayorkas failed to ‘identify an impeachable crime’ that he has committed. ‘In effect, they stretch and distorts the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law,’ McClintock said ahead of an expected House of Representatives vote on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.” [Devdiscourse (originally published by Reuters), 2/6/24]
Daily Mail: Mayorkas Impeachment Looks More In Doubt As TWO Republicans Plan To Vote ‘No’: Speaker Mike Johnson Can Only Afford To Lose One More GOP Defector After Ken Buck And Tom McClintock Dig In On ‘Unconstitutional’ Move. “Two Republicans now oppose impeaching Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas, complicating efforts for the House GOP as they attempt to hold Biden’s top border official accountable for the crisis at the southern border. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., followed Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., in announcing he would vote ‘no’ on the resolution to impeach Mayorkas Tuesday. ‘The only way to stop the border invasion is to replace the Biden administration at the ballot box,’ McClintock wrote on X. ‘Swapping one leftist for another is a fantasy, solves nothing, excuses Biden’s culpability, and unconstitutionally expands impeachment that someday will bite Republicans.’ McClintock felt so strongly about not impeaching the secretary that he released a 10-page memo to House Republicans making the case against it. Buck, who will retire after this term, had a similar warning on Monday, saying that a ‘partisan impeachment’ would ‘boomerang back and hurt Republicans in the future.’” [Daily Mail, 2/6/24]
Newsmax: Republicans Lose Second Vote to Impeach Mayorkas. “Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., on Tuesday criticized Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas but said he will vote against a resolution to impeach him because Republicans have not identified an impeachable offense. McClintock’s announcement came after Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., said last week he would also vote against the resolution on the same grounds, putting the measure in jeopardy in the House, which Republicans hold by a slim majority, The Hill reported. ‘Clearly the founders worried that the power of impeachment could be used to settle political disputes and so searched for limiting language to avoid such abuse,’ McClintock wrote in a 10-page memo released Tuesday before the House was to vote on the impeachment resolution. […] However, McClintock wrote, the articles of impeachment ‘fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed,’ and that they ‘stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law.’” [Newsmax, 2/6/24]