Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) moved to force a vote on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday, the second time this month that the firebrand Republican launched an effort to boot the Biden administration official.
Greene called her impeachment measure — which charges Mayorkas with “high crimes and misdemeanors” — to the floor as a privileged resolution, a procedural gambit that forces leadership to take action on the measure within two legislative days.
The effort comes just over two weeks after the House voted to refer Greene’s impeachment resolution to the Homeland Security Committee, stopping it from hitting the floor for a direct vote.
Eight Republicans joined all Democrats in voting to refer the legislation, dealing a blow to Greene and her push to oust Mayorkas. The Georgia Republican addressed those opponents in remarks shortly after she forced a second vote on Wednesday,
“The eight Republicans that voted with the Democrats claimed that they wanted it to follow proper House procedure and go through the committee,” Greene said. “But my articles of impeachment have been sitting in committee for over six months, and they’ve been basically sitting there collecting dust, not being picked up.”
Greene said if the current effort to impeach Mayorkas fails, which will likely be the case, she will “keep reintroducing it.”
“I think the American people will not tolerate Republicans continuing to vote it down,” she added. “They have no excuse. Americans are dying every single day. The border is the issue you hear from everybody, even New York is falling apart over the migrant crisis. So I don’t think they’re gonna tolerate this from them.”
DHS on Wednesday called the repeat resolution a “baseless attack [that] is completely without merit and a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities.”
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Greene launched her effort shortly after Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) criticized the Georgia Republican on the House floor for trying to fast-track impeaching Mayorkas.
“Many are demanding Mayorkas’ impeachment for ‘failing to maintain operational control of the border,’ as Congresswoman Greene’s resolution puts it. He’s certainly guilty of that, and a whole lot more. Maladministration, malfeasance, and neglect of duties on a truly cosmic scale. But these are not impeachable offenses,” McClintock said.
“By failing to abide by due process and Constitutional constraints, Ms. Greene is tainting this serious impeachment inquiry with a shoot-from-the-hips stunt that is reckless, partisan and manifestly unserious,” he added.
The Georgia Republican shot back at McClintock, telling reporters that her colleague “doesn’t support impeachment of all.”
Greene’s resolution accuses Mayorkas of “willful admittance of border crossers,” and says he has a duty to protect the U.S. from an “invasion.” It also alleges that the secretary violated the Secure Fence Act, a 2006 law that demands perfection at the border by declaring the border operationally secure only if no people or contraband improperly enter the country.
Mayorkas in the past has pushed back against claims that he violated the law.
“The Secure Fence Act, specifically the statute, defines operational control as not having one individual cross the border illegally. Under that statutory definition, no administration has achieved operational control,” he said when appearing before lawmakers in July.
“Obviously a layer of reasonableness must be applied here,” he told lawmakers last year when asked about the law. “And looking at that definition through the lens of reasonableness, we dedicate now 24,000 personnel to the border. We are surging increased personnel, facilities, and other methods of support. And in my opinion, operational controls means maximizing the resources we have to deliver the most effective results.”
Greene said she has spoken to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about her impeachment effort “not much at all,” which she said was a problem.
“I think it’s something that should be a priority for him as Speaker of the House,” Greene said. “I know it was under Speaker McCarthy. And given that it didn’t work out, it would have been something that, I know Speaker McCarthy would have talked to me about and discussed a path to make it successful, but I haven’t heard from Speaker Johnson at all.”
She later said she was “frustrated” with Johnson’s leadership thus far.
“The honeymoon’s over, so at this point, yes I’m frustrated. The only thing he’s done is pass Joe Biden’s budget, didn’t get anything changed in it,” Greene told reporters, referring to the continuing resolution Johnson put forward earlier this month.
—Rebecca Beitsch contributed. Updated at 2:27 p.m.