(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a resolution Wednesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, marking her second effort this month to impeach Mayorkas due to his handling of the southern border.
“The Guarantee Clause [of the Constitution] clearly dictates that the federal government has a constitutional duty and obligation to protect each of the states from invasion. As secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas has violated his oath to uphold this constitutional duty,” Greene said Wednesday.
Greene filed an earlier so-called privileged resolution against Mayorkas on Nov. 9, accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors related to migrants and drugs crossing at the border. This new resolution comes after eight Republicans voted with Democrats to block the congresswoman’s last impeachment effort — referring it to the House Homeland Security Committee. Greene introduced similar articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in May but House GOP leaders never brought them to a vote.
A spokesperson for DHS dismissed Greene’s latest resolution as a “baseless attack.”
“Every day, the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security work tirelessly to keep America safe. They need Congress to stop wasting time and do its job by reforming our broken immigration system, reauthorizing vital tools for DHS, and passing the Administration’s supplemental request to properly resource the Department’s critical work to stop fentanyl and further secure our borders. Secretary Mayorkas continues to be laser-focused on the safety and security of our nation. This baseless attack is completely without merit and a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson argued that policy differences are not grounds for impeachment and urged members of Congress to work with DHS to find solutions to secure the border.
It is unclear whether any members who helped stymie Greene’s last push to impeach Mayorkas have changed their votes, and Greene said Wednesday that she hasn’t spoken with the eight Republicans who blocked her last impeachment push. Previously, some moderate House Republicans weren’t supportive of impeaching Mayorkas without a full investigation.
Rep. Ken Buck, one of the eight Republicans who voted to squelch the Nov. 9 effort, said earlier this month that while he has “strong disagreement with his handling of our southern border, which puts this country at grave risk,” Mayorkas “did not commit an impeachable offense.”
But some of the other Republicans who voted down the previous effort have signaled openness to impeaching Mayorkas in the future. Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who also joined Democrats in killing the earlier impeachment push, told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo last week that he’d consider a modified resolution.
“I’ve said I’m willing to vote for impeachment, but I wanna make sure that it’s written properly and comes out prepared to note just pass the House, but to pass the House in a way in which we’ve at least got a shot to take it to the Senate and convince them to remove the secretary,” he said.
Greene said if the current effort to impeach Mayorkas fails, which appears likely, she will “keep reintroducing it.”
The House of Representatives will have to vote on the new resolution within two legislative days.
There have been 2,475,669 southwest land border encounters in fiscal year 2023 year-to-date, an increase of 96,725 encounters since fiscal year 2022 year-to-date, according to Customs and Border Protection.
ABC News’ Luke Barr contributed to this report.
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