Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas survived a House Republican effort to impeach him.
A motion to impeach Mayorkas, something long sought by GOPers, failed 214-216, with four Republicans joining all Democrats against the motion.
Republicans leaders had sought to impeach Mayorkas over the crisis at the southern border. But Republicans including Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) opposed the measure, arguing that it would set a precedent for Democrats to try to remove cabinet members in a Republican administration.
Mayorkas would have been the first cabinet secretary to be impeached. In 1876, William Belknap, the secretary of war, resigned before a House vote.
Even before Republicans took control of the House, Mayorkas was a target of GOP ire, as he was blamed for the increase in border crossings.
The vote took place just hours after Senate Republican leadership declared that a bipartisan deal for border security was dead.
As a further sign of the deadlock, the House also was on track to fall short of passage of a bill to provide aid to Israel. Democratic leaders opposed the measure, out of concern that it would foreclose action on other aid to Ukraine and Taiwan.
More to come.
