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.
My statement on the House voting to impeach Secretary Mayorkas: pic.twitter.com/CwNdm4XQkU
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 14, 2024
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.
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