White House to GOP: Failed Mayorkas impeachment effort was ‘waste of time’

The White House on Tuesday called the Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “a waste of time” and a “political stunt” after the House vote failed.

The vote failed in an embarrassing fashion for Republicans on Tuesday evening, as three members joined Democrats to vote against impeachment. The 214-216 vote was a loss for Republicans, who argued Mayorkas violated immigration laws by failing to detain a sufficient number of migrants.

“Clearly there is bipartisan agreement that this baseless, unconstitutional impeachment stunt should fail,” Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, said in a statement.

“House Republicans ought to realize that extreme political stunts like this are a waste of time, and instead join the President, Secretary Mayorkas, and Republicans and Democrats who want to work together to deliver real solutions that actually strengthen border security,” he added.

President Biden earlier on Tuesday had slammed House Republicans’ efforts to torpedo the bipartisan Senate border bill, which aims to curb the influx of migrants coming into the U.S. Biden blamed former President Trump for killing the bill for political reasons after his predecessor warned Republicans against voting for the legislation because it would be politically unfavorable for the GOP in an election year.

Sams also shared statements from Republicans who didn’t support the effort to impeach Mayorkas, including Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) who said the actions aren’t impeachable, and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who said House Republicans had nothing to impeach him on.

Two “no” votes, from Buck and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), were expected. But then a third House GOP lawmaker, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), also voted against impeachment. 

Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), the vice chair of the GOP conference, then flipped his vote to “no” just before the vote closed, which is a procedural move that allows the conference to bring the legislation back to the floor later.

After the vote, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)’s spokesperson said Republicans intend to bring the impeachment back to the floor, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) encouraged Republicans to abandon the effort entirely.