The Republican-led House voted along party lines to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. It was the second attempt in as many week.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The Republican-led House voted this evening along party lines to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MIKE JOHNSON: On this vote, the yeas are 214, and the nays are 213. The resolution is adopted.
(SOUNDBITE OF GAVEL BANGING)
SUMMERS: It was the second attempt in as many weeks and marks House Republicans making good on a mission they have held since they took control of the lower chamber last year. The articles of impeachment accused Mayorkas of willful and systemic refusal to comply with immigration laws and breach of public trust. Mayorkas is now the first cabinet secretary to be impeached in nearly 150 years, but the Democratic-controlled Senate is not expected to do much with this House action. NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales has been watching all of this action from the Capitol, and she joins us now. Hey there.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hi, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Claudia, as we just mentioned, this was the second attempt. It was just last week that House Republicans failed to impeach Mayorkas. And tonight they were successful, but by a slim margin. Tell us what happened.
GRISALES: Right. This was the second time and the charm for Republicans to finally get this done. They have a very tight majority. And last week, they could only afford to lose two Republicans. They lost three who joined Democrats to block this effort. But they also had a key absence. Senate Majority Whip Steve – I’m sorry, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who is battling cancer. He was not there. And so he returned tonight, and Republicans quickly returned to have this vote to impeach Mayorkas. And there were not enough Democrats to help block the effort. In the end, they were able to impeach him by that…
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