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House Republicans move to impeach homeland security secretary
Republican-led committee sends two articles of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas to House of Representatives

Guardian staff and agencies
Wed 31 Jan 2024 13.25 CET

House Republicans voted along party lines after midnight on Wednesday to move toward impeaching the homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, for a “willful and systematic” refusal to enforce immigration laws as border security becomes a top 2024 election issue.

In a charge against a cabinet official unseen in nearly 150 years, the homeland security committee debated all day on Tuesday and well into the night before recommending two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas to the full House.

The committee Republicans voted in favor, while the Democrats unified against, 18-15.

The partisan showdown reflected the Republicans’ efforts to make the Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s hardline deportation approach to immigration their own.

That approach was mirrored on a second front on Tuesday, as Republicans also lambasted the border deal recently brokered between the Joe Biden White House and a bipartisan group of senators, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Mayorkas, in a letter sent to the Republican chair of the House committee on homeland security before the hearing began, dismissed the impeachment process against him as “politically motivated”.

“I have been privileged to serve our country for most of my professional life. I have adhered scrupulously and fervently to the oath of office I have taken six times in my public service career,” Mayorkas wrote.

“I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted.”

The Republican chair of the committee, Mark Green of Tennessee, criticized Mayorkas’s letter as an inadequate response to concerns about the situation at the US-Mexican border, where arrests for illegal crossings have reached record highs.

“This 11th-hour response demonstrates the lack of seriousness with which Secretary Mayorkas views his responsibilities,” Green said. “We cannot allow this man to remain in office any longer. The time for accountability is now.”




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... ans-border

House Republicans have presented no clear evidence that Mayorkas committed high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the requirement for impeachment.

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:39 am I read the article, there are no crimes. WTF even, that's a requirement folks.

bob wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:41 am

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:39 am I read the article, there are no crimes. WTF even, that's a requirement folks.

To paraphrase former-Speaker Ford, "High crimes are whatever a majority of the House believes them to be."

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Manu Raju @mkraju wrote: GOP Rep. Crenshaw on Rs vowing to kill border deal before released: "The height of stupidity is having a strong opinion in something you know nothing about. ... I'm extremely disappointed in the strange maneuvering by many on the right to torpedo a potential border reform bill."

“But if we have a bill, that on net significantly decreases illegal immigration, and we sabotage that. That is inconsistent with what we told our voters, we would do. And people will make up whatever reasons they want to. There's a number of them, I'm sure, but it would be a pretty unacceptable dereliction of your duty,” Crenshaw said

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2024 11:39 am I read the article, there are no crimes. WTF even, that's a requirement folks.

House Republicans have presented no clear evidence that Mayorkas committed high crimes and misdemeanors, which is the requirement for impeachment.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar wrote: Republican Rep. Ken Buck on why he's voting against Mayorkas impeachment: "This is a not a high crime or misdemeanor. This is not an impeachable offense. This is a policy difference ... it's wrong, and we should not set this precedent."

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been subpoenaed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan to produce documents related to the use and spending of federal funds, according to copy of the subpoena obtained by CNN.

Willis is the Georgia district attorney who brought the 2020 election subversion case against former President Donald Trump.

The subpoena is part of a broader investigation by Jordan, an Ohio Republican, that is focused on Willis’ use of federal funds.

House Republicans are also investigating unsubstantiated allegations that Willis engaged in an improper romantic relationship with her lead prosecutor on the Georgia election subversion case, Nathan Wade, according to a previous letter from Jordan.

raison de arizona wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 3:13 pm Republican Rep. Ken Buck on why he's voting against Mayorkas impeachment: "This is a not a high crime or misdemeanor. This is not an impeachable offense. This is a policy difference ... it's wrong, and we should not set this precedent."

Sawyer Hackett @SawyerHackett wrote: The Republican Party, in a nutshell:

On Monday, they're going to kill the harshest immigration deal in decades because their nominee wants to run on the issue.

On Tuesday, they're going to launch an impeachment inquiry on the DHS Secretary for not being harsher on immigration.

Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @BillPascrell wrote: According to do-nothing republicans Congress now isn't allowed to pass laws in election years anymore.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar wrote: On the topic of his opposition to the bipartisan border bill, Jim Jordan on Fox Business says Congress should "let the American people decide" in November

northland10 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 8:05 pm The same party refused to confirm Obama's pick for SCOTUS because of an election year but confirmed Barrett a week before the election.

Hypocrites.

The entirety of Rep. Nancy Mace's, R-S.C., Washington, D.C. staff has reportedly turned over since November 1, 2023, three sources close to the situation told The Daily Beast.

Former employees alleged a "toxic" workplace, with one former senior employee noting to the Daily Beast that Mace was "abusive" in her methods of using workplace software to excessively communicate with staffers. The source claimed that Mace's correspondence was "constant," adding that she would “micromanage the office all day and into the night and early morning.”

“If she needed us, we had to answer within eight minutes,” another former staffer alleged in describing how Mace had reportedly called employees late at night on Christmas Eve. “Nancy is delusional as a boss,” they continued. “She says nothing publicly without her consultants or senior staffers telling her to, but takes credit for everything. She’s a walking teleprompter.”

The ex-employee also told the Daily Beast that Mace "has no idea what it actually means to be a member of Congress and is too scared and self-conscious to deal with other people, so she accomplished nothing.”

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he would vote against a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, becoming the second Republican to buck the party and putting in jeopardy GOP plans.

In a 10-page memo McClintock offered criticism of Mayorkas but said his party had failed to identify an impeachable crime.

“Clearly the founders worried that the power of impeachment could be used to settle political disputes and so searched for limiting language to avoid such abuse,” McClintock wrote, writing his colleagues had failed to demonstrate any high crime or misdemeanor.

Assuming full attendance, Republicans can only lose three votes to pass its impeachment resolution. But with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) absent due to treatment for blood cancer, that number dwindles to just two if all other members are present, leaving no more room for GOP defections.

The House is slated to vote on impeachment Tuesday evening.

House Republicans' high-stakes effort to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas seems to be on the verge of collapse.

The House is currently scheduled to vote later Tuesday to recommend removing the Homeland Security secretary from office over breach of trust and refusing to comply with the law, which would make him the first Cabinet official since 1876 to be impeached. But with incredibly thin margins, a couple GOP “no” votes and absences, House Republicans can’t afford to lose any more members of their own party, if all Democrats vote and are united in opposition.

Confidence they can successfully clear that bar is plummeting. As they left a closed-door conference meeting Tuesday morning, five GOP lawmakers expressed doubt that Speaker Mike Johnson would move forward with the vote or that Republicans have the support they need. Those Republicans cited the two GOP “no” votes from Reps. Tom McClintock (Calif.) and Ken Buck (Colo.), as well as a handful of others who remain publicly undecided and privately skeptical.

If the vote does implode, striking out House Republicans’ most aggressive swing against the Biden administration to date, it would certainly frustrate a conservative base that is highly energized about the border. And it would be the latest — and potentially most high-profile — setback for Johnson, who is already facing growing frustration from his right flank.

“Apparently there’s some folks that are unhappy about it. … I think the common thought was that we were going to vote when we walked in there, but I don’t know now,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). “It’s just very close right now.”

Just hours before the vote, several Republicans remain publicly undecided. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) told his colleagues in the private meeting that he didn’t think the accusations against Mayorkas met the Constitution’s bar for impeachment, according to four lawmakers in the meeting. On Monday, Gallagher declined to say how he was voting or even which way he was leaning, telling POLITICO: “I’m not going to tell you.”

“He’s raising objections,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said of Gallagher in a brief interview after Tuesday’s meeting.

In addition to the Wisconsinite, Republicans are facing a handful of other publicly undecided GOP lawmakers, including Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), David Joyce (R-Ohio) and Maria Salazar (R-Fla.).

Victor Shi @Victorshi2020 wrote: Holy cow. Rep. Neguse just used a Republican Congressman’s own words against him & got him to disagree with himself during a live hearing about impeaching DHS Secretary Mayorkas. Rep. Neguse gave a masterclass on exposing Republican hypocrisy. That was so good.

Watch. Rep. Neguse started by reading the title of an op-ed (published by Rep. Green), stating impeaching a president is a waste of time & distracts from legislating. Rep. Green then said he DISAGREES. That’s when Neguse revealed those were his words.

https://x.com/acyn/status/1754648798737862815?s=46

Acyn @Acyn wrote: Wow Rep. Neguse is very good at this

Jim Jordan opens new attack on Fani Willis with subpoena based on whistleblower tip off

Travis Gettys
February 2, 2024 10:59AM ET

House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan has subpoenaed the Georgia prosecutor leading the investigation into Donald Trump's election subversion.

The Ohio Republican issued the subpoena to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis seeking documents related to the use and spending of federal funds by her office, reported CNN.

Jordan's letter accompanying the subpoena cites a whistleblower who alleges that Willis' office misused funds unrelated to the Trump investigation, although the committee chairman had also previously requested documents related to that case.

Trump and 18 codefendants were charged with racketeering in the sprawling Georgia election case brought by Willis.

One of those codefendants, Mike Roman, is seeking to have Willis and her lead investigator Nathan Wade disqualified from the case due to an alleged romantic relationship while working on the investigation.



https://www.rawstory.com/jim-jordan-fan ... 667155028/