House tees up vote on impeaching Mayorkas over border crisis

Mayorkas' impeachment vote could come as early as Tuesday

Ohio GOP Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno: ‘Traitor’ Mayorkas ‘absolutely’ should be impeached

Moreno told Fox News Digital that Mayorkas is "grotesquely unqualified" for the job and has "not followed the laws of the land."

House Republicans are moving toward a chamber-wide vote on whether to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the border crisis.

A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached since 1876.

Mayorkas is facing two impeachment articles, one that accuses him of having "refused to comply with Federal immigration laws" and the other of having violated "public trust."

Those articles passed out of the House Rules Committee on a party-line 8-4 vote Monday evening. That sets up a procedural rule vote that, if passed, will be followed by a House floor debate and then a final impeachment vote.

Three sources told Fox News Digital on Monday afternoon that they expect that vote to come Tuesday.

BORDER NUMBERS FOR DECEMBER BREAK MONTHLY RECORD, AS BIDEN ADMIN TALKS AMNESTY WITH MEXICO

Mayorkas

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to face a House impeachment vote. (Getty Images)

House GOP leaders have accused Mayorkas of willfully disregarding existing federal laws and making deliberate policy decisions that have made the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border worse.

Democrats, meanwhile, have painted Republicans’ impeachment push as political and argued the impeachment articles have no basis.

ILLEGAL MIGRANT FLIPS MIDDLE FINGERS AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH ATTACKING NYPD IN TIMES SQUARE

But the effort has served to largely unite what’s been a very divided House GOP conference this term. Even moderates from districts where President Biden won in 2020, like Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., have said they’d support Mayorkas’ impeachment.

Don Bacon

GOP Rep. Don Bacon is among the Biden-district Republicans who have come out in favor of impeaching Mayorkas. (Getty Images)

It’s a good sign for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who will need every Republican vote he can get to pass the historic measure. He’s presiding over a razor-thin House GOP majority, but the expected returns this week of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., from medical absences will give him slightly more wiggle room.

At least one House Republican is against the impeachment push so far, while at least four more were undecided as of late last week. 

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE PREDICTS MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES WILL PASS HOUSE WITHOUT ANY DEM SUPPORT

Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told reporters last week that he was a "solid" no against impeaching Mayorkas. Buck criticized the Biden official for his handling of the southern border crisis but said, "The people that I’m talking to on the outside, the constitutional experts, former members agree that this just isn’t an impeachable offense."

Mike Johnson

Speaker Mike Johnson will need every Republican vote he can get to pass the historic measure. (Getty Images)

Mayorkas himself slammed the impeachment articles as baseless accusations in a letter to House Homeland Security Secretary Mark Green, R-Tenn., last week.

"I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted," Mayorkas wrote.

The impeachment proceedings will be a stark juxtaposition to Senate leaders' efforts to pass a bipartisan border security deal this week, talks which Mayorkas has been a part of.

Elizabeth Elkind is a reporter for Fox News Digital focused on Congress as well as the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and politics. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Authored by Elizabeth Elkind via FoxNews February 5th 2024