Washington – Rep. Brandon Williams voted for the second time in a week to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, one of President Joe Biden’s cabinet members.
The first impeachment vote failed 216-214 on Feb. 6 when all Democrats joined four Republicans in voting against an impeachment resolution.
On Tuesday night, Republicans tried to pass the resolution again when Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the House majority leader, returned to the Capitol. Scalise missed last week’s vote while undergoing treatment for cancer.
This time, the resolution passed 214-213, after two House members from each party failed to make it to Washington in time for the vote. Four Republicans sided with all Democrats who were present to vote against impeachment.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Cleveland, whose district includes Cayuga and most of Oswego counties, also voted for impeachment.
The effort to oust Mayorkas marks the first time in almost 150 years that Congress has tried to impeach a sitting member of the president’s cabinet.
Williams, a first-term Republican from Central New York, agreed with GOP House members who argued that Mayorkas willfully refused to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.
House Democrats said the impeachment vote was a partisan attack on Biden’s immigration policies. Democrats said policy differences did not amount to a permissible impeachment offense.
The impeachment is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said after the House vote Tuesday night that Republicans failed to produce any evidence showing that Mayorkas committed a crime.
“This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans,” Schumer said in a statement. “The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker (Mike) Johnson to further appease Donald Trump.”
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