A Republican congressman who voted against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been told that he may face a primary as a consequence of his vote.
On Tuesday night, House Republicans failed in their attempt to impeach Mayorkas, with 214 votes to support impeachment and 216 against. Republican Reps. Blake Moore of Utah, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, Tom McClintock of California, and Ken Buck of Colorado voted with Democrats, according to The Washington Post.
“Mike Gallagher’s political career should be over. We will work with the patriots in Wisconsin’s 8th district to primary him. Just like Lankford, we have no room for these people who cover for traitors like Mayorkas,” Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA posted on X. Kirk’s post references Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, who was one of the Senate Republicans who had a hand in negotiating a border security bill Republicans have rejected.
Mike Gallagher’s political career should be over. We will work with the patriots in Wisconsin’s 8th district to primary him. Just like Lankford, we have no room for these people who cover for traitors like Mayorkas.
Call and politely let him know:
Mike Gallagher – (202) 225-5665— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 7, 2024
Mike Gallagher votes against DHS sec impeachment after Mayorkas acts on his demands for textile import limits
What gives, congressman?https://t.co/L64rsGDXSf
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 7, 2024
“Secretary Mayorkas has faithfully implemented President Biden’s open border policies and helped create the dangerous crisis at the southern border,” Gallagher said in a statement, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Should Mike Gallagher be voted out of office?
“But the proponents of impeachment failed to make the argument as to how his stunning incompetence meets the impeachment threshold Republicans outlined while defending former President Trump,” he said.
But many were outraged at Gallagher and vented on social media.
Speaker Johnson should strip Gallagher of his Chair of Committee on the Chinese Communist Party for his facile vote against the Mayorkas impeachment–Gallagher aligned himself in one vote with the Mexican drug cartels, the Biden Regime, and the deaths of more than a 100,000…
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) February 7, 2024
Thank you, @StephenM for calling out RINO @RepGallagher’s BS statement.
The real reason he didn’t impeach Mayorkas is because he made a swampy back room deal (quid pro quo) to save his a**.
Gallagher betrayed the Republican Party and failed the American people for his own… https://t.co/KnFZhafZfa
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) February 7, 2024
Mike Gallagher is a disgrace to my home state of Wisconsin and the Republican Party.@RepGallagher just voted against the impeachment of Sec Mayorkas, the man who has worked hand and hand with Biden to open our borders and allow dangerous criminals to flood into our country.…
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) February 7, 2024
In an Op-Ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Gallagher said Mayorkas has been a “disgrace” in his job, adding, “incompetence doesn’t rise to the level of high crimes or misdemeanors.”
“I disagree with my Republican colleagues who voted on Tuesday to impeach Mr. Mayorkas. Impeachment not only would fail to resolve Mr. Biden’s border crisis but would also set a dangerous new precedent that would be used against future Republican administrations,” Gallagher wrote.
Gallagher argued that even if Mayorkas was removed, President Joe Biden would name a replacement to implement Biden’s policies just as Mayorkas has.
Gallagher said Republicans should learn from and not emulate the mistakes made under the leadership of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the impeachment efforts against former President Donald Trump.
“It was a rushed, hyperpartisan process that lowered the bar for what constitutes an impeachable offense. Republicans rightly railed against this effort and the dangers of a single-party impeachment, impeachment for unpopular decisions, impeachment for non-criminal acts, and impeachment for not complying with congressional subpoenas,” he wrote.
“Republicans should reject the Pelosi precedent. Creating a new, lower standard for impeachment, one without any clear limiting principle, wouldn’t secure the border or hold Mr. Biden accountable. It would only pry open the Pandora’s box of perpetual impeachment.”
