While congressional Republicans have long denounced the Biden administration’s immigration policies, which have exacerbated the nation’s border crisis and ushered in a record number of undocumented migrants, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has taken a particularly decisive stance.
She recently re-introduced a motion to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas just weeks after pursuing a similar measure that failed to advance when eight GOP lawmakers voted alongside Democrats in the narrowly divided chamber.
News: Rep. Darrell Issa, one of the eight Republicans who voted against MTG's last vote to impeach Mayorkas, says he "will vote to recommend Mayorkas be impeached" today.
Others are sticking by their votes: https://t.co/DusnTIqyEE
Full statement from Issa: pic.twitter.com/RN8oeIPFO4
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 30, 2023
In an update on Thursday, however, Greene confirmed that she had tabled her second resolution just ahead of a scheduled vote. She noted that the decision came in response to a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Mark Greene (R-TN), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.
“My articles of impeachment are in the Homeland Committee,” the Georgia Republican said. “We’ll be picking those up and moving.”
Greene noted that “there was no guarantee on impeachment” prior to the meeting, so she was “satisfied” with the arrangement.
While she and others on the right have targeted Mayorkas over claims that he has failed to uphold his duties relative to border security, House Democrats have generally dismissed calls for impeachment as a partisan gambit.
“Tonight, the extreme MAGA Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas was fully exposed as the political stunt that it is,” claimed Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS).
For its part, the DHS released a statement in response to Greene’s most recent resolution, insisting that the “baseless attack is completely without merit and a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities.”
Greene defended her position in a statement from the House floor on Wednesday.
She accused Mayorkas of failing “to maintain operational control of the border,” specifically with regard to the admittance of suspected terrorists and other criminals across the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Mayorkas has made it easier for illegal aliens and drugs to enter the United States, endangering American citizens, and has made it harder for [Customs and Border Protection] to expel such threats.”
The DHS statement sought to blame lawmakers for the border crisis, claiming that Congress needs to “stop wasting time and do its job by reforming our broken immigration system, reauthorizing vital tools for DHS, and passing the Administration’s supplemental request to properly resource the Department’s critical work to stop fentanyl and further secure our borders.”
