The Republican-led House Rules Committee added the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to its work docket on Monday, teeing up a likely House vote next week.
The early Saturday addition of the impeachment articles to the panel’s Monday committee hearing signals that House Speaker Mike Johnson is staying firm in his plan to “expeditiously” hold an impeachment vote in the coming days.
Earlier in the week, the House Homeland Security Committee advanced two articles of impeachment against Mr. Mayorkas after a marathon hearing.
Impeachment requires a majority vote in the House before moving to the Senate, where a trial and vote typically occur. It takes a two-thirds majority vote to convict and remove an official.
The move to impeach Mr. Mayorkas stems from accusations that he and the Biden administration have ignored federal immigration laws, which has caused a chaotic surge of illegal crossings at the U.S./Mexico border.
Should Republicans succeed in impeaching the embattled DHS secretary, he would be the second Cabinet official to be impeached in U.S. history.
Though the majority of the House GOP is seemingly in favor of impeaching Mr. Mayorkas, a unanimous floor vote is not guaranteed, and could jeopardize the push to impeach the Biden administration official because of the paper-thin Republican majority in the House.
Rep. Ken Buck, Colorado Republican, said that he was a “solid no” against the impeachment vote earlier this week.
Mr. Buck argued that while the southern border was in shambles, Mr. Mayorkas’ involvement was not an impeachable offense — the lawmaker similarly decried the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, but then voted in favor of it.
He is not alone in questioning the validity of the impeachment push, however. Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican, warned last year that efforts to impeach Mr. Mayorkas would redefine impeachment, and weaponize it for Democrats.