In a stunning blow to GOP leaders, the House rejected an effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, after a number of Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the vote. The final vote was 214 to 216.
The whole effort was a political stunt, with one goal: helping Donald Trump look tough on border issues ahead of November’s presidential election. The GOP’s two articles of impeachment accused Mayorkas of “willful” refusal to comply with immigration laws, and of breaching public trust.
But they never produced any evidence that Mayorkas had committed crimes ― let alone crimes that meet the threshold for impeachable offenses. The Constitution spells out that impeachment is reserved for rare instances of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” like bribery or treason.
