Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas became the second presidential cabinet official to be impeached after a historic vote in the House on Tuesday.
Lawmakers in the lower chamber voted 214-213 to impeach the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the administration’s refusal to secure the nation’s borders.
“For nearly a year, the House Homeland Security Committee has taken a careful and methodical approach to this investigation and the results are clear,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement. “From his first day in office, Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and consistently refused to comply with federal immigration laws, fueling the worst border catastrophe in American history.”
Mayorkas was impeached for “Willful and Systemic Refusal to Comply With the Law” and “Breach of the Public Trust.”
Mayorkas, Johnson said, “has undermined public trust through multiple false statements to Congress, obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, and violated his oath of office.”
Lawmakers accused Mayorkas of deliberately undermining the administration’s constitutional obligation to secure the border through years of initiatives aimed at circumventing U.S. immigration laws. The DHS chief has welcomed wave after wave of unchecked illegal immigration, dramatically expanding parole and the CBP One App, which allows migrant entry so long as an appointment with officials is on the calendar. From the time President Biden took office through the beginning of October 2023, an estimated 1.7 million known “gotaways” had come into the United States unvetted, according to the House Judiciary Committee. More than
