Alejandro Mayorkas Impeached by House Republicans; DHS Sec's Fate Now Depends on Democrat-Controlled Senate

House Republicans gave Donald Trump what he wanted by having a Biden administration official, Alejandro Mayorkas, impeached.

The Republican majority voted to impeach the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary despite the lack of evidence.

Republicans have blamed Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the Joe Biden administration over the ongoing border crisis, despite the Republicans themselves sabotaging the bipartisan border deal that the Senate and the Biden administration were working on. The deal would have provided $20 billion of border security funding.

The vote was very close and one of the reasons for the Alejandro Mayorkas impeachment happening was the return of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. According to CNBC, he returned from cancer treatment to help Republicans secure the majority vote and have Alejandro Mayorkas impeached.

The final vote tally in the House of Representatives was 214-213, with Scalise's vote proving to be the deciding factor as the House approved two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas.

This vote was historic, too, despite the political motivations, as Mayorkas became the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in almost 150 years. He is also only the second cabinet secretary to ever be impeached.

The case now goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate, which would need a two-third majority to convict and remove the DHS sceretary from his office.

Mayorkas is expected to be exonerated given the lack of evidence that he intentionally violated federal immigration laws and blocked congressional oversight of the Homeland Security Department. The Democrats are in Senate control and are likely to throw the case out.

Narrow Victory in Alejandro Mayorkas Impeachment Frustrates Republicans

Despite celebrating, however, some Republicans were lamenting and growing frustrated with their narrow victory, given that the impeachment effort previously failed as some Republicans defected and voted against impeaching Mayorkas.

Republican lawmakers openly aired their frustrations and started pointing fingers at their party's leadership, which has been growing more and more fractured with clear factions forming within the Republican party itself.

"I had many people reach out to me via text message and say, 'What the hell are you guys doing up there?' I think our base is a little frustrated," said Texas Republican Troy Nehls in an interview with CNN. "We may have the gavel, but we're not acting like we're in the majority."

Rep. Lance Gooden, another Texas Republican, echoed his sentiment, "I was embarrassed for our conference, for our party, because we can do better than we did last night," he said in a CNN interview.

Several Republicans Voted Against Alejandro Mayorkas' Impeachment

The impeachment of the DHS secretary is seen more as a Donald Trump victory rather than a Republican victory, as it showed just how divided the party is in Congress, with some towing the party line and aligning with the embattled former president, while others choose to side with the law.

As CBS News noted, while all Democrats voted against the impeachment, not all Republicans voted for it, as three of them defected and voted with the Democrats.

Meanwhile, Mayorkas said the politically-motivated push to impeach him has not shaken him.

"I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted," he stated in a letter to the committee.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: WATCH LIVE: House convenes to attempt new vote for impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas - PBS NewsHour