AURN News with Ebony McMorris

Mayorkas Impeached: Biden Calls Vote ‘Petty Political Game’

Ebony McMorris
February 14, 2024

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been impeached by Republicans in a historic House vote after failing last week.

Majority House Leader Steve Scalise was back in Washington Tuesday after receiving cancer treatment, giving Republicans the necessary votes to overcome the razor-thin majority and get the impeachment over the finish line.

By a 214-213 vote, Mayorkas was the first cabinet official to be impeached since the 1870s. Mayorkas faced scrutiny from Republicans over his handling of the southern border. Several House Republicans say he committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

This image from House Television shows House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., banging the gavel after he announced the House voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Washington. (House Television via AP)

Things now head to the Senate, where an acquittal is almost certain (in which case, Mayorkas would not face removal from office).

President Joe Biden, in a statement, said that “history will not look kindly on House Republicans” for their impeachment of the secretary of Homeland Security.

He called it a “blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games.”

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.