The House of Representatives yesterday impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas by a 214 to 213 vote for allegedly violating immigration laws over his handling of the southern US border. Mayorkas is the second cabinet member in US history to be removed from office, following the 1876 impeachment of then-Secretary of War William Belknap.
The Republican-led House passed two articles of impeachment (view here) yesterday, following last week's first attempt when four Republicans joined Democrats in voting 216 to 214 against the impeachment. One GOP lawmaker switched his vote at the last minute in a procedural move to avoid a tie, allowing the conference to bring the vote up again.
Mayorkas had been under scrutiny as the number of migrants crossing into the US through Mexico hit record levels last year. Border agents recorded a monthly high of over 300,000 migrant encounters in December, up 25% from November and 20% year-over-year. However, in January, migrant encounters were down 42% month-over-month to around 176,000, but up 12% from January 2023. See data here.
The Democrat-led Senate is likely to either dismiss Mayorkas' charges or set the matter aside indefinitely; Democratic lawmakers claim the impeachment is politically motivated.
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