House Republicans plot swift impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas as moderates signal support
Source: CNN
House Republicans plot swift impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas as moderates signal support
By Melanie Zanona, Manu Raju and Annie Grayer, CNN
8 minute read
Published 11:00 AM EST, Sun January 7, 2024
(CNN) — House Republicans are plotting to swiftly impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas early this year, as key swing-district Republicans express fresh openness to the idea amid a recent surge of migrant crossings at the southern border.
The controversial move – to make Mayorkas the first Cabinet secretary impeached in nearly 150 years – amounts to a shift for the House GOP, which had set its sights on potentially impeaching President Joe Biden in early 2024. But with the Biden probe moving methodically and a number of Republicans still skeptical about impeaching the president, senior Republicans now believe targeting Mayorkas will be an easier lift as the border crisis becomes a defining campaign issue.
“From the far right and the Freedom Caucus to those more moderate, we have all been a part of this,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a freshman congressman from a New York district that Biden carried in 2020, told CNN. “We’ve all asked the tough questions, and I think we are at a point, and I believe that the American people agree with us, that Mayorkas needs to be impeached and we need to find quality leadership to lead Homeland Security.”
The emerging plan, according to multiple GOP lawmakers and aides, is to run the Mayorkas impeachment effort entirely through the House Homeland Security Committee as opposed to the House Judiciary Committee, where impeachment articles typically originate, though it is not constitutionally required.
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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/07/politics/house-republicans-plot-swift-mayorkas-impeachment-as-moderates-signal-support/index.html
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