A House GOP effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas failed in embarrassing fashion Tuesday as three Republicans joined Democrats in voting against what would have been the second-ever impeachment of a Cabinet official.
The 214-216 vote is a stunning loss for a GOP that has faced continual pressure from its right flank to impeach a Biden official, even as the party has waffled over which one to focus on.
The failure came about because of the surprise appearance in the chamber of Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who showed up unexpectedly — having recently had surgery and wearing hospital scrubs and no socks, according to NBC — to vote against the bill.
Republicans entered the vote with two expected GOP “no” votes from Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.) and Tom McClintock (Calif.), but then a third House GOP lawmaker, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), also voted against impeachment. The surprise “no” vote prompted numerous GOP colleagues to gather around Gallagher for a lengthy conversation before the vote closed.
Democrats at several moments erupted in howls of “order,” asking that the vote be closed when it was poised to fail.
A fourth Republican, Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), the vice chair of the GOP conference, then flipped his vote to “no” seconds before the vote closed, a procedural move that allows the conference to bring the legislation back to the floor at a later date.
Republicans say the hope is to bring the legislation to the floor again, when House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is undergoing treatment for cancer, will be able to attend.
“House Republicans fully intend to bring Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas back to the floor when we have the votes for passage,” Speaker Mike Johnson’s spokesperson said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.