President Joe Biden criticized House Republicans who voted to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary Alexander Mayorkaswarning them of potential historical repercussions.
What happened: On Tuesday, after a narrow 214-213 vote to impeach Mayorkas, Biden condemned House Republicans for their actions. This marked the first impeachment of a government official since the 1870s.
“History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship in targeting an honorable public official to play petty political games,” Biden said.
He also highlighted Mayorkas’ background as a Cuban immigrant and political refugee, highlighting his decades of public service.
The White House had previously argued that the impeachment effort against Mayorkas was unconstitutional and politically motivated. Biden also pointed out that the House GOP rejected a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening border security, which included measures to help Ukraine and Israel.
He urged House Republicans to focus on bipartisan border security solutions and pass the Senate funding measure to help Ukraine, Israel and other allies.
“Instead of staging political stunts like this, Republicans with genuine concerns about the border should want Congress to put more resources on the border and stronger border security,” Biden said.
“Unfortunately, the same Republicans pushing this baseless impeachment are rejecting the bipartisan plans that Secretary Mayorkas and others in my administration have worked hard on to strengthen border security right now, reversing their years-long calls to pass border security laws. stronger boundaries.”
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Because matter: This was the second vote, introduced by the Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), to impeach Mayorkas after the first failed earlier this month. It follows a months-long investigation into the secretary of Homeland Security, criticized by Democrats as a farce, as reported by Benzinga. The initial vote was seen as a defeat for the President Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republicans who had made border security a central campaign issue.
The GOP is accusing Mayorkas of not being tough enough on border security and refusing to “enforce the law” as it says he violated immigration laws by failing to detain enough migrants.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended Mayorkas and said the House GOP will be “remembered by history for trampling the Constitution for political gain rather than working to resolve serious challenges at our border.”
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock.com
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This content was partially produced with help from Benzinga Neuro and has been reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.