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Three shameful GOP lawmakers vote with Dems to save Mayorkas’ hide – but one ‘NO’ vote stands out

February 7, 2024 | | Print Article

The marginal failure to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas prompted an effort to “NAME AND SHAME” ahead of another expected attempt.

A culmination of border visits, press conferences, committee hearings, investigations and considerable amounts of tough talk resulted in a narrow loss for the GOP Tuesday. As the motion to make Mayorkas the first cabinet official to be impeached in nearly 150 years failed despite a Republican majority, the names of the three rogue members went viral, along with an explainer on one strategic “nay.”

The names of Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Tom McClintock of California quickly circulated Tuesday after they strayed from the effort of their conference colleagues, landing a talking point victory for the left with a vote ending 216-214 against impeachment.

“Mayorkas has arguably done more damage to this country than anyone else in elected office. His department is responsible for border security and they’ve neglected to do their jobs,” wrote social media maven Libs of TikTok with a reminder about DHS’s role in the border crisis. While sharing their office numbers and pictures, the account added regarding the Democrat-siding Republicans, “TIME TO NAME AND SHAME!”

With vacancies and absences potentially weighing in as a factor, like House Majority Leader Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise currently undergoing cancer treatments, the fourth GOP “nay” attributed to Rep. Blake Moore of Utah was taken strategically.

When it became apparent the resolution would fail at 215-215, Moore switched his vote for procedural purposes as House rules permit a member from the prevailing side to “move to reconsider” the motion at a later point.

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Adding insult to self-inflicted injury, members signaled that the impeachment vote come to the floor again the following week, preserving the investigation and related documents because of Moore’s vote, after a Feb. 13 special election in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

That seat remained vacant since the December vote to oust now-former Republican Rep. George Santos who shared an image from the House floor showing how he could have been the deciding vote with the caption, “Miss me yet?”

The resolution had asserted Mayorkas, “willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in the Constitution, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” to which the secretary had asserted, the “false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devote most of my career and to which I remain devoted.”

Adding to that, DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg issued a statement that read, “This baseless impeachment should never have moved forward; it faces bipartisan opposition and legal experts resoundingly say it is unconstitutional. If House Republicans are serious about border security, they should abandon these political games and instead support the bipartisan national security agreement in the Senate to get DHS the enforcement resources we need.”

“Secretary Mayorkas remains focused on working across the aisle to promote real solutions at the border and keep our country safe,” she added.

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Meanwhile, with the “bipartisan” Senate border deal marked as dead on arrival by the House after the upper chamber negotiated a majority of the $118 billion to be sent overseas while allowing for nearly 2 million illegal entries into the United States per year, the party continued to take a reputational hit for failures.

As national radio host and conservative commentator Dana Loesch stated, “Republicans want to run from every win (Disney, Bud Light) and race to every loss (Mayorkas impeachment, border battle). They’re rudderless flotsam at the mercy of the winds. It takes skill to be that unbelievably ridiculous.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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