The US Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, making him the first cabinet member to face impeachment in the United States in nearly 150 years.
On Tuesday, the House voted 214 to 213 for the measure, after the first impeachment attempt had failed last week. Now, the Democratic-controlled Senate will vote on the impeachment.
Mayorkas is under the GOP’s fire for what he himself has described as a “crisis” on the US-Mexico border. He says Congress needed to provide him with the tools and resources to manage the situation on the southern border.
However, Mayorkas’ critics blame him for “wilfully not following the laws” regulating immigration, causing the immigration crisis.
His critics accuse him of not living up to his oath to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of his office by failing to do more to stop the inflow of immigrants from the southern border.
“They’re baseless allegations, and that’s why I’m not really distracted by them,” Mayorkas said in a Sunday interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden condemned the move, saying on Tuesday that the House’s call for impeachment was a “blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship”.
He dismissed the latest attempt to impeach Mayorkas, describing it as a “political stunt”.
Analysts say the Senate will likely reject the impeachment.
