(NewsNation) — Capitol Hill could experience deja vu next week when the House is expected to hold a second vote on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Lawmakers fell short by a single vote to impeach him Tuesday after three Republican lawmakers joined their Democratic counterparts to oppose the measure.
Rep. Tom McClintock of California was one of those Republicans in dissent. Explaining his vote Thursday on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” McClintock said an impeachment of Mayorkas won’t solve the border crisis.
“Even in the fantasy world where the Senate would actually vote to remove him, do you really think that that would improve the situation by replacing Mayorkas with, say, (Rep. Alexandria) Ocasio-Cortez?” McClintock said. “This is not a crisis that can be solved by impeachment. It can only be solved by replacing the entire administration, and that can only be done by the American people at the ballot box.”
Republicans say Mayorkas is guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” that amount to a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” on immigration and a “breach of the public trust.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have said the impeachment proceedings are politically motivated and a waste of time.
Should the impeachment resolution eventually pass, the Senate would hold a trial, with a two-thirds vote needed for conviction. This could be a challenge in the Democratic-run Senate, especially since members could refer the matter to a committee for its own investigation, delaying immediate action.
A day after the failed impeachment vote, the Senate failed to advance a bipartisan deal to enhance border security measures. The border provisions were included in a $118 billion package that would also send military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
“It’s an absolutely terrible bill. I’ve looked at that bill pretty carefully, and it would be a giant step backwards,” McClintock said of the border deal negotiated by a group of Democratic and Republican senators.
McClintock in particular has a problem with one provision of the bill would allow the president to shut down the border if daily average crossings exceed 4,000.
“That’s an improvement over over Biden, but suppose the next president actually is serious about securing our border. This makes it impossible for him to do so,” McClintock said. “This says we don’t care how you want to secure the border, you still have to let 4,000 illegal entries in every single day. … This would tie the hands of any future presidents who actually want to secure the border.”
